Aegis Ltd, a back-office unit of India's Essar Group, has proposed to buy global business process outsourcing firm ICT Group for about $128 million in cash.
The $8 per share offer price is more than double that of ICT's Friday close of $3.60 on Nasdaq.
Aegis said it is seeking support and approval of ICTG board to effect the transaction on a friendly basis.
ICT Group provides outsourced customer-care services, primarily to U.S.-based companies, including Pfizer , Washington Mutual Inc WM.N and Virgin Mobile USA and has operations in Ireland, UK, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Philippines, Costa Rica, India and Argentina.
Last October, Aegis acquired Los Angeles-based PeopleSupport for $250 million to expand its presence in the Philippines market.
Shares of the Newtown, Pennsylvania-based company rose more than 66 percent to $6 in morning trade on Nasdaq.
Source: Reuters