Carlyle-promoted Hexaware picks 5 i-banks for mega IPO at $5-6-bn valuation, India's biggest in IT services since TCS

Carlye-backed Hexaware listing is billed to be the biggest IPO in the country since TCS.

US private equity giant Carlyle has finalised a syndicate of five investment banks as it gears up to take portfolio firm Hexaware Technologies public and unlock value through a big-bang IPO this fiscal, multiple industry sources told Moneycontrol.

"Carlyle has shortlisted Kotak Mahindra Capital, Citi and JP Morgan as the lead banks, along with IIFL Capital and HSBC Securities . The IPO will provide a partial exit window for Carlyle," said one of the persons above.

Two other persons confirmed the making of the syndicate.

"The deal is likely to be kicked off this week. These are early days and no size and valuations have been finalised as yet, but the plan is to raise around a $1 billion (Rs 8,350 crore) at a valuation ranging between $5 billion and $6 billion (Rs 41,750 crore to Rs 50,100 crore), though this might change later depending on market conditions," a fourth person told Moneycontrol.

If the listing plans fructify, it would be India's biggest IT services IPO in rupee terms since the Rs 4,713-crore issue of TCS back in 2002.

All the four persons above spoke to Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.

In response to an email query from Moneycontrol, Carlyle, which holds more than 95 per cent in Hexaware Technologies and HSBC Securities, declined to comment.

Moneycontrol is awaiting a response from Hexaware while the other investment banks could not be reached for an immediate comment.

Carlyle acquired Hexaware in 2021 from rival private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia (now EQT) for around $3 billion.

A successful listing attempt would mark the return of Hexaware Technologies to the domestic bourses after 22 years. According to NSE data, it first listed on June 14, 2002.

The earlier promoter Baring Private Equity Asia had delisted the firm in 2020.

A closer look at Hexaware

Hexaware Technologies is a global technology and business process services company based out of Mumbai with 50 offices across 19-plus countries and a workforce of more than 30,000 and a client base of more than 370 . According to its website, the firm has clocked $1.3 billion in annual revenues.

Earlier this month, in a bid to bolster its data and analytics capabilities, the firm announced the acquisition of Softcrylic, a data consulting firm headquartered in Minneapolis.

"Gen AI, coupled with old-fashioned AI, will open myriad opportunities for every business to become more efficient and create disruptive new business models. However, some fundamentals don’t change. Every business in every industry wants to transform into a platform-based business. While gen AI will help accelerate that journey, it will not replace human talent, problem-solving, and creative capabilities," R Srikrishna, CEO of Hexaware Technologies, said in the firm's 2023 annual report, alluding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI).

"We are rapidly pivoting Hexaware to an AI-first world. We’ve trained over 15,000 tech employees (approximately 80 percent of our tech talent) and created transformative solutions that redefine every facet of our operations," he said.