Goldman Sachs in talks to acquire Multiples PE-owned HR services firm PeopleStrong

Goldman Sachs in talks to acquire Multiples PE-owned HR services firm PeopleStrong

Wall Street investment bank Goldman Sachs’s private equity arm is in talks to acquire a majority stake in HR tech services provider PeopleStrong from its current owner Multiples PE, sources told Moneycontrol on condition of anonymity.

The proposed acquisition is likely to value PeopleStrong at Rs 1,500 crore, according to the sources.

PeopleStrong provides tech services to companies across the entire employee lifecycle from hire to exit, including human capital management, payroll, talent acquisition and management, and collaboration.

Headquartered in Gurugram, PeopleStrong has its operations spread across India, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East. The company provides its tech services to more than 500 large enterprises across Asia, which employ over 2 million people. Its client list has brands like AirAsia, Cipla, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Raymond, Paytm and Schneider Electric.

Multiples picked up PeopleStrong in 2017 in a Rs 400-crore deal from Lumis Partners and other shareholders. It now controls 84 percent stake in the HR tech services firm with the founders and other early investors of the company holding the rest of the pie.

Goldman Sachs declined to comment, while emails sent to Multiples PE were not reverted till Press time.

Also Read: Multiples PE emerges front-runner for majority stake in IT services firm QBurst at around $300 mn valuation

PeopleStrong has grown its business under Multiples PE through a host of acquisitions. In March 2022, it acquired PayReview, a salary and compensation tech platform with over 100 enterprise customers, and before that, in 2019, it bought out Qilo, a SaaS performance management product company. Earlier in 2018, it had acquired Grownout, a B2B referral platform, and Capabiliti.

Multiples PE’s other tech services investments include MoEngage, a global insights-led customer engagement SaaS platform, and Quantiphi, a India-US-based applied artificial intelligence (AI) and big data services company, providing solutions to Fortune 500 clients across sectors such as consumer, insurance, healthcare, retail, media and entertainment, and technology.