BLS International Services Ltd. (BLS), a leading global tech- enabled services partner for governments and citizens, has announced that the necessary approval from the Turkish Regulatory Authority, for the said acquisition, has now been received. Accordingly, the acquisition of iData by BLS FZE and it’s subsidiary is now expected to be completed by July 20, 2024.
In January 2024, the company had announced that it entered into a definitive Share Purchase Agreement through its wholly owned subsidiary BLS International FZE, UAE, to acquire 100% stake in iData Danismanlik Ve Hizmet Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi (“iDATA”) and its wholly owned subsidiaries for an Enterprise Value of Euro 50 Million (~ Rs. 450 Crores) and additional milestones based payments. iDATA, a prominent player based in Turkey, specializes in Visa and Consular Services, making it a strategic addition to BLS’s expanding portfolio.
Incorporated in Turkey, iDATA provides comprehensive visa applications and consular services to various governments. The company currently operates more than 37 Visa Application Centres (VAC) across 15+ countries, serving diplomatic missions of Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic. Notably, iDATA has been the exclusive provider of Visa & Consular Services to the Italy Diplomatic mission since 2006 and the German Government since 2012 in certain geographies. As per the audited consolidated financials for the calendar year 2022, iDATA achieved revenues of EURO 19.9 million (~Rs. 180 Crores) and EBITDA of EURO 10.4 million (~Rs. 94 Crores).
The acquisition would be funded mainly through the company’s internal accruals.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Turkey and Lagrange Point Advisors LLP, Mumbai jointly acted as transaction advisors to BLS on this transaction. Dentons Link Legal, India and Balcioğlu Selçuk Ardiyok Keki Attorney Partnership (BASEAK), Turkey acted as legal advisors for the transaction.
Founded in 2005, BLS International Services Ltd. is a trusted global tech-enabled services partner for governments and citizens, having an impeccable reputation for setting benchmarks in the domain of visa, passport, consular, citizen, e-governance, attestation, biometric, e-visa and retail services.
The company is recognized as “India’s Most Valuable Companies” by Business Today Magazine, “Best under a Billion’ Company” by Forbes Asia and ranked among “Fortune India’s Next 500 companies”. The company is the second largest International Visa & Consular services provider and works with over 46 client governments, including Diplomatic Missions, Embassies and consulates, and leverages technology and processes that ensure data security. The Company has an extensive network of centres globally, that provide consular, biometrics, and citizen services. BLS has processed over 360 million applications to date globally.
BLS International is certified with as CMMI DEV L5 V2.0 & SVC L5 V2.0, ISO 9001:2015 for Quality Management Systems, ISO 27001:2013 for Information Security Management Systems, ISO 14001:2015 for Environmental Management Systems, and more. BLS International is the only listed company in this domain with operations in 66 countries.
BLS International Services Ltd. (NSE Symbol: BLS, BSE Scrip Code: 540073, MSE Symbol: BLS)
