Blackstone to buy majority stake in Indian IT firm R Systems for $359 million

(Reuters) -U.S. investment fund Blackstone Inc said on Thursday it would buy a 52% stake in India's R Systems International from the IT services company's promoters for $359 million.

Blackstone said it would pay 245 rupees per R Systems share, a premium of around 4% to the closing price on Wednesday. But, R Systems' shares shot up about 17% to 275.25 rupees in morning trading on Thursday.

"R Systems is well-positioned to benefit from digitalization tailwinds, shorter product launch cycles and increased openness to outsource product development," Blackstone Senior Managing Director Mukesh Mehta said in a statement.

Blackstone said it would launch a conditional de-listing offer at 246 rupees per share and that it was seeking regulatory approval from the Indian market regulator.

Satinder Singh Rekhi, one of R Systems' promoters selling their stake, will be a non-executive advisor to Blackstone.

R Systems' shares had shed a quarter of their value so far this year until Wednesday, after surging about 168% last year.

(Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Akansha Victor in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)