Bain Capital wants to buy outsourcing firm from Carlyle for $2bn

Jan 18, 2022 | News

Bain Capital is in advanced talks to buy outsourcing firm VXI Global Solutions from Carlyle Group, people familiar with the matter said, five years after selling its stake in the business to its private equity rival.

Boston-based Bain is in the final stages of conducting due diligence on VXI and firming up details of a potential deal, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. Bain has emerged as the likeliest buyer for the business after outbidding other buyout firms and industry players, the people said.

The company, which could be valued at $1.5 billion to $2 billion (around R30 billion) in a sale, had drawn interest from buyout firms including Bain Capital and Baring Private Equity Asia, Bloomberg News reported last month.

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Deliberations are ongoing and talks could still fall apart, the people said. Representatives for Bain and Washington-based Carlyle declined to comment.

Founded in 1998 in Los Angeles, VXI expanded into China in 2005 and has helped multinational companies with business process outsourcing and information technology services as they enter the world’s second-largest economy, according to its website.

Carlyle became the majority shareholder in VXI in 2017 after acquiring a stake from owners including Bain. The company has expanded both organically and via acquisitions.

Bain Capital was founded in 1984 by executives from consulting firm Bain and Company, including Mitt Romney, who would eventually be the Republican party’s losing presidential candidate in 2012. According to their website, “as separate company, Bain Capital shares no management or information with Bain and Company”.

Bain and Company is currently facing intense scrutiny in South Africa after the State Capture Inquiry report found evidence of a “coordinated agenda” between the firm, former President Zuma and the SA Revenue Service “to seize and restructure” the tax agency.

The company said the report mischaracterises the group’s role at the revenue collection agency.

In the wake of the findings, former UK cabinet minister Lord Peter Hain this week called on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ban Bain and Company from government business.

Source: News 24

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