(Bloomberg) May 10, 2010 – Apax Partners LLP, manager of an 11.2 billion-euro ($14.4 billion) buyout fund, agreed to acquire 54 percent of computer-services company Tivit Terceirizacao de Tecnologia e Servicos SA in the firm’s first investment in Brazil.

Apax’s offer of 18.10 reais ($10) a share in cash values the Mogi Das Cruzes-based company at about $1 billion, the buyout firm said in a statement today. Apax is purchasing the shares from Tivit’s controlling investors, including Votorantim Novos Negocios and Patria Investimentos, and said it will extend the offer to the rest of the stock.

Buyout firms are resuming acquisitions again after the credit crisis almost halted deal-making for two years. Firms around the world still have about $500 billion of investors’ money to spend, according to research firm Preqin Ltd. Apax raised its current fund in March 2007.

Tivit provides outsourcing services to 300 of Brazil’s 500 largest companies, including the country’s major banks and manufacturers, according to the London-based firm. “Apax is attracted to Tivit’s market leadership in both IT outsourcing and business-process outsourcing,” Apax partner Jason Wright said in the statement.

Luiz Mattar, Tivit’s chief executive officer, will keep a “substantial portion of his ownership stake” in the company, Apax said.

Tivit is Apax’s fifth investment in the past 12 months, after the firm bought U.K. software company Sophos Plc., Israeli fund manager Psagot Investment House Ltd., U.K. clinical-trials logistics company Marken Ltd. and personal-finance information provider Bankrate Inc.

Tivit rose as much as 9.9 percent to 18.13 Brazilian reals in Sao Paulo trading. The shares were trading at 17.75 reals as of 11:27 a.m.

By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany

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