Baring, Carlyle eye Warburg Pincus stake in WNS - report

According to The Times of India, Warburg's previously tried to sell the New York Stock Exchange-listed company in 2009.

Warburg bought a 64.7% majority stake in the firm in 2002 from British Airways for $40 million. Earlier this year it reduced its holding from 48% to 29% through a $110 million secondary public float. WNS stock is currently trading close to $11 with a market capitalization of $530 million.

WNS is among the top three Indian BPO firms providing finance and accounting back office work. The company has more than 25,000 employees across 30 delivery centers worldwide including Costa Rica, India, the Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Sri Lanka, the UK and the US.

Baring has scouted for BPO deals in the past. In June, it teamed up with Malaysian sovereign fund Khazanah to offer $800 million for Essar-owned Aegis BPO but talks collapsed on valuation differences.

The Carlyle Group previously had a majority stake in Newgen, a Chennai-based publishing BPO, but sold it to a private equity consortium in July of last year.

In August, Bain Capital and Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) acquired a minority interest in Genpact, another BPO firm, from General Atlantic and Oak Hill Capital for $1 billion.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Secondaries
• Buyouts
• India
• The Carlyle Group
• Bain Capital Asia
• Baring Private Equity Partners India