Global investment firm Carlyle has entered into an agreement to acquire a significant minority stake in Singapore-headquartered engineering services firm Quest Global Services.
While terms of the deal were not disclosed, sources close to the development said the PE firm was acquiring a 25-28% stake at an enterprise value of close to $2 billion. The stake could be valued at $500-560 million.
The company will route the investment through funds managed and advised by entities affiliated with Carlyle Asia Partners, it said in a statement.
Further, current minority stakeholders Bain Capital and Advent International will exit Quest Global following the transaction. Quest Global will repurchase the company’s shares, while chairman and CEO Ajit Prabhu will increase his stake to about 40% from the current 30%.
“Carlyle was the first early-stage PE investor in Quest Global and we are proud to partner again. We believe the company’s undivided client-centricity, drive for engineering excellence, differentiated global delivery model and the entrepreneurial energy of the management team have enabled it to scale successfully across a diverse set of industry verticals,” Amit Jain, MD and head of Carlyle India Advisors, said.
The transaction is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals.
As of June 30, Carlyle’s buyout funds, including Carlyle Asia Partners, have invested more than $35 billion of equity in over 280 deals globally. Of this, about $5.6 billion was in Asia.
Quest Global is in engineering, research and development services for the design, product development and operations of complex engineering systems. It has 67 delivery centres and offices across 17 countries and employs over 17,500 engineers.
Barclays, JP Morgan, BNP Paribas and Latham & Watkins were the advisors to Quest Global, and Deutsche Bank, Clifford Chance, KPMG and Trilegal served as advisors to Carlyle. Barclays, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ING, JP Morgan, Nomura, Standard Chartered Bank, Allen & Overy and Linklaters helped in arranging finance for the transaction.