With $1 billion, Apax jumps ahead in race for Quest Global stake

Apax Partners is offering at least $1 billion for a roughly 40% stake in Quest Global Services, said one of the people cited above.

The transaction will see Quest shareholders Advent International and Bain Capital sell their shares along with some early investors, who requested anonymity. GIC and the founders may also participate in the transaction by selling some shares, said the person cited above.

Quest Global Services was founded in 1997 by Ajit Prabhu and Arvind Meligeri in Bengaluru, though it later shifted its headquarters to Singapore.

In 2016, Advent, Bain and Singapore’s sovereign fund GIC raised approximately $350 million (then 2,500 crore) to acquire shares in Quest from Warburg Pincus and other small investors.

If completed, this would be one of the largest secondary transactions in the engineering technology services sector in India.

Quest Global has seen significant investor interest over the past few years. According to VCCedge, in August 2021, Chris Capital and True North acquired an 8.33% stake in Quest for approximately $1.8 billion. Kris Capital and True North are not selling shares in the deal.

Spokespeople for Apex, Advent International and GIC did not respond to a request for comment. A spokeswoman for Bain Capital declined to comment.

Prabhu, the chief executive officer of Quest Global, declined to comment. However, he added that Quest Global was “playing for the long haul”.

“Quest Global was created to solve some of the toughest engineering problems facing the world today by redefining the meaning of customer focus for the industry. All industries are on the verge of technological disruption driven by engineers. With a 100% focus on engineering and a multidisciplinary workforce, Quest is in a unique position to scale globally. This simple concept remains our driving force and will not change,” Prabhu said in an email response.

Quest provides mechanical, software and digital engineering services to companies in aerospace and defense, high-tech and industrial, medical devices, oil and gas, power and transportation, according to its website.

Quest Global aims to reach $1 billion in revenue by 2025, up from $620 million, according to an April 26 report. The Hindu BusinesslineReferring to the Lord.

According to data provider Traxon, Quest has raised a total of $581 million in funding and spent more than $101 million globally for 13 acquisitions.

In November, Quest acquired Adept, a product design business with capabilities in the semiconductor and automotive segments, for an undisclosed amount. Its other subsidiaries include Quest Global Engineering, Quality Engineering and Software Technologies, Excellent Technologies, Mobilia Technologies, Quest Global Engineering Services and Synapse Design Inc.

Other digital engineering service providers include Global Logic, L&T Technology Services and Cyient Limited.

Japan’s Hitachi acquired GlobalLogic in March 2021 from Partners Group and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for approximately $9.8 billion.