Quest Global Services Pte’s co-founder and Carlyle Group Inc. are in talks to buy separate minority stakes in the engineering services firm worth a combined $640 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
(Bloomberg) — Quest Global Services Pte’s co-founder and Carlyle Group Inc. are in talks to buy separate minority stakes in the engineering services firm worth a combined $640 million, according to people familiar with the matter.
The US investment firm and Quest Chief Executive Officer Ajit Prabhu are lining up financing for a deal that would value the Singapore-based company at about $1.8 billion, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.
An agreement to buy the stakes from Bain Capital and Advent International Corp. could be reached within weeks, one of the people said. Carlyle would acquire about a 25% stake in the company while Prabhu’s ownership would increase to around 42%, one of the people said.
Discussions are ongoing and could still fall apart at the last minute, the people said. Other suitors for the stakes could still emerge, they added.
Investments by private equity firms are an integral part of Quest’s growth strategy and part of the normal course of business, a spokesperson for Quest said on behalf of both the firm and the CEO in response to a Bloomberg News query. Investments and exits by private equity firms fluctuate and are prudently planned, the spokesperson added.
Representatives for Advent, Bain and Carlyle declined to comment.
Founded in 1997, Quest offers engineering services including product engineering, software engineering and after-market services, according to its website. It has more than 17,000 employees in 17 countries, and serves clients in sectors including aerospace and defense, automotive, energy and health care. In 2016, Bain, Advent and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte bought minority stakes in Quest for around $350 million, according to a press release at the time.
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