SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., and PROVIDENCE – eTelecare Global Solutions (Nasdaq: ETEL) today announced a definitive agreement to be acquired by affiliates of Providence Equity Partners Inc. and Philippines-based Ayala Corp. for about $290 million.

Under their planned cash-tender offer in the United States and the Philippines, the Providence Equity and Ayala affiliates will pay $9 per share for “up to all of the outstanding shares of eTelecare common shares, and up to all of the outstanding eTelecare American Depositary Shares,” the companies said. That represents a 76-percent premium over the stock’s closing price yesterday on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange.

A provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions, eTelecare focuses on voice-based and non-voice-based customer care, providing technical support, customer service, sales, customer retention, chat and e-mail from delivery centers in the Philippines, North America and Latin America.

“This transaction allows eTelecare’s shareholders to realize significant value from their investment in eTelecare in a timely manner,” Gary J. Fernandes, eTelecare’s chairman, said in a statement today. The acquisition “will also enhance the company’s ability to serve its valued customers,” Fernandes said. “With access to [Ayala and Providence Equity’s] substantial intellectual and capital resources, the company will be well positioned to expand its role as a leader in the BPO marketplace”

Ayala already has “significant holdings” in the Arizona firm via its holding company for the BPO sector, LiveIt Solutions Inc.

“Our further investment demonstrates our confidence in the management team and 13,000 plus members of the eTelecare family,” said LiveIT CEO Fred Ayala. “Together with our partner Providence – the leading private equity investor in the telecom and media sectors – we will be backing the company as it continues to deliver world-class service to its clients.”

Providence Equity is “excited to partner with such a well-established and proven company as Ayala on this investment in eTelecare,” said Julie Richardson, a managing director of the equity firm and acting chief of its Asia-Pacific operations.

“This transaction underscores Providence’s strategy, particularly in Asia, of partnering with local entrepreneurs and industry leaders as part of its investments,” she added. “Including this transaction, Providence has committed to deals with an aggregate investment of over $1 billion in Asia.”

Morgan Stanley & Co. Inc. is serving as eTelecare’s financial adviser in the deal. Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is acting as its U.S. legal counsel, while Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & De Los Angeles is acting as its legal counsel in the Philippines.

Providence Equity and Ayala are being advised in the transaction by financial adviser N.M. Rothschild & Sons, lead counsel Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Philippines legal counsel SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan. Also acting as counsel to Ayala is Davis Polk & Wardwell.

The Providence Equity-Ayala offer – already approved by the eTelecare board – is good only if at least at least 66.67 percent of eTelecare common and American Depositary Shares are tendered. It also is subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions.

Meanwhile, a consortium led by Providence Equity has withdrawn its offer for U.K.-based trade-journal publisher Informa plc, citing difficulties in obtaining financing for a higher bid, according to Bloomberg News.

“Following the board of Informa’s rejection of the consortium’s proposed offer, the consortium has decided to withdraw its proposal,” investment firms Providence Equity, Blackstone Group LP and The Carlyle Group said in a statement today.

“We made a fully funded cash offer at 450 pence,” a spokesman for the investors’ group, who asked not to be identified, told Bloomberg in a telephone interview today. “The management insisted that this substantially undervalues the company,” he added, “and we were unable to proceed with a higher offer.”

The consortium’s cash offer of 1.9 billion pounds (about $3.4 billion) cash offer was rejected by Informa on Sept. 4. (READ MORE) An earlier offer by a slightly different Providence Equity-led consortium, valued at 506 pence a share, or 2.15 billion pounds, had never obtained full financing.

Scottsdale, Ariz.-based eTelecare Global Solutions (Nasdaq: ETEL), founded in 1999, is a leading provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) solutions. Additional information is available at www.etelecare.com.

Informa Plc publishes more than 2,000 trade publications – including three-century-old maritime newsletter Lloyd’s List, considered the world’s oldest continuously operating newspaper – and organizes more than 10,000 conferences per year. To learn more, visit www.informa.com.