EQT-backed IT firm Virtusa seeks $1 billion in India IPO: Report

Virtusa Corp, a global information technology services firm owned by Swedish private equity giant EQT, is exploring an initial public offering in India that could value it at $7 billion or more, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

The company is looking to raise at least $1 billion, two of the sources said. A road show in the second half of this year will help determine the listing venue, deal size, valuation, and whether to proceed, one of the sources said.

Citigroup, JPMorgan, and Morgan Stanley have been tapped to work on the deal, and more could be added later, three of the sources said.

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Founded in 1996 and headquartered in Massachusetts, Virtusa employs 30,000 people in 32 countries, and its presence in India includes IT delivery centres in Hyderabad, Chennai, Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Gurugram, according to its website.

All the sources declined to be named as the matter was still private. Virtusa and Morgan Stanley did not respond to requests for comment, while EQT, Citi and JPMorgan declined to comment.

At around $1 billion, Virtusa's potential listing would be India's biggest so far in what shapes up to be a busy year, with $2.75 billion already raised from 64 listings, LSEG data shows.

A Virtusa listing would allow EQT an exit from one of its main Asia technology bets at a time when private equity firms globally are under pressure from investors to return capital.

EQT, which had around 270 billion euros ($316 billion) in assets under management at the end of last year, gained control of Virtusa in 2022 when it acquired Baring Private Equity Asia, which took the technology firm private from Nasdaq in 2021.

The Swedish investment firm last week raised $15.6 billion for its latest private equity Asia fund, the largest pool of capital ever assembled for the region.