Barclays Plc, Britain’s third-biggest bank, plans to take a stake valued at as much as $120 million in an Indian company providing back-office services that is backed by Blackstone Group LP, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Barclays will award contracts for at least five years to Intelenet Global Services Ltd. instead of paying cash for the stake, the person said, declining to be identified because the transaction hasn’t been made public.

Aviva Plc, Britain’s biggest insurer, and U.K. banks have outsourced some services to India to reduce costs. A stake in Intelenet will help Barclays ensure it gets the services it requires from the company based in Mumbai.

Intelenet will announce details of a “strategic announcement,” today, according to an invitation for a press conference sent by the company yesterday. Intelenet “as a policy does not comment on market speculation,” said Naini Choudhury, a spokeswoman for the company.

The Blackstone Group “as a policy, does not comment on market speculation,” the firm said in an e-mail response. “We do not comment on market speculation,” said Perry Jones, a spokesman for Barclay’s Plc.

Intelenet is valued at $500 million to $600 million, according to the person

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-10-06/barclays-said-to-take-20-stake-in-blackstone-backed-intelenet.html