NEC in talks to acquire a controlling stake in Hexaware Technologies: report

Japanese technology giant NEC Corp is in talks to acquire a controlling stake in Atul Nishar led Mumbai-based software and BPO services firm Hexaware Technologies, The Economic Times today reported, citing two people briefed on the matter.

Minato, Tokyo-based NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, is in talks to acquire the stake from Atul Nishar and his family and private equity firms General Atlantic and ChrysCapital.

NEC may seek to enter into exclusive negotiations with Hexware's founders and PE investors if the two sides mutually agree on the broad parameters of a deal.

Hexaware is said to have received at least one offer from a global strategic investor and another from a private equity fund for a controlling stake in the company, one of the two people told the paper.

In January, Hexaware's majority shareholders had hired Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse to look for potential suitors for their combined 53 per cent stake. Hexaware is currently valued at around Rs3,426 crore ($700 million).

The promoters' and Atul Nishar, founder of the publicly-listed Hexaware hold 28.18 per cent, while General Atlantic holds 14.9 per cent and ChrysCapital around 10 per cent.