Carlyle preferred bidder for Baring PE's Hexaware in $3 billion deal, sources say

By Kane Wu

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Global private equity firm Carlyle Group has emerged as the preferred bidder for Baring Private Equity Asia's (BPEA) Indian portfolio Hexaware Technologies in a $3 billion deal, two people with knowledge of the situation said.

If successful, Carlyle would be winning a competitive bidding process against peer firms including KKR & Co and Bain Capital, as well as French company Teleperformance SE for the Mumbai-headquartered IT services firm.

Hong Kong-based BPEA, Hexaware and a Carlyle spokesman declined to comment.

BPEA bought a controlling stake in Hexaware in 2013 for about $420 million and took the company private from the local stock exchanges late last year.

Hexaware provides automation, cloud and customer services-related technology to a wide range of industries including finance, education, hospitality and manufacturing.

With 37 offices in more than 30 countries, the company's revenue grew 6.5% year on year in 2020 to $845 million in U.S. dollar terms, according to its annual report.

Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 24.4% to 11 billion rupees in 2020.

(Reporting by Kane Wu; Additional reporting by Rama Venkat in Bengaluru; Editing by Edmund Blair)