Private equity houses battle it out for £500m UK IT services firm Claranet
Private equity houses Blackstone and Inflexion are battling it out for a stake in a £500m-valued British IT services company, City PM has learned.
US-based private equity firm Abry Partners is in the process of selling Claranet, which it invested in in 2012.
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Founded in 1996, Claranet has more than 5,800 customers, with clients including Channel 5, Harvey Nichols, Airbus, Peugeot and Unicef.
The business claims an annual revenue of around £215m and has more than 1,200 staff working across 20 offices in eight countries.
Sources told City PM the sale process could complete within weeks, with both Blackstone and Inflexion in the frame.
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Providence Equity Partners was also involved in the auction, alongside some French fund bidders, but sources said they believed the firm had now dropped out of the race.
Lazard is advising Abry on the sale of a minority stake in Claranet, which has been valued at between £400-500m.
Claranet, Lazard, Blackstone and Inflexion declined to comment.