Carlyle buys $500mn stake in engineering services company Quest

MUMBAI: Private equity financier Carlyle will acquire a minority stake in engineering services company Quest Global, replacing Bain Capital and Advent, who will exit the company. According to sources, Carlyle would pay $500 million for little more than one-fourth of the company, valuing it at $1.8-2 billion.

Singapore-based Quest Global was set up by its present chairman Ajit Prabhu and CEO Aravind Melligeri in 1997. Its clients include giants such as Airbus, BMW, P&W, Rolls-Royce, Siemens and GE. It has a multi-disciplinary team of 17,500 engineers, across 67 delivery centres and offices, in 17 countries.
As part of this transaction, Quest Global will repurchase its company shares and Ajit Prabhu will acquire an additional stake in the firm. “Carlyle was the first early-stage private equity investor in Quest Global, and we are proud to partner again,” said Amit Jain, MD of Carlyle India Advisors. Jain added that Quest Global will benefit from the growing focus on increased outsourcing and disruptive technology advancements across industries. Bain Capital, Advent and Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC jointly bought a minority stake in Quest Global for $350 million in 2016.