By Mateusz Rabiega
(Reuters) -France’s Capgemini has agreed to buy technology -outsourcing company WNS for $ 3.3 billion in cash to expand the AI tools range that it offers for companies, said the IT Services Group on Monday.
The Deal rests Capgemini to create an advisory service aimed at helping companies to improve their processes and cost efficiency with the use of artificial intelligence, namely generative AI and Agentic AI, who are expected to withdraw considerable investments.
The purchase price that translates to $ 76.50 per WNS share represents a premium of 17% compared to their last closing price on 3 July and does not include the financial debt of WNS, Capgemini said.
The interest in the India, whose services include business process and data analysis, was first reported by Reuters in April.
“WNS brings … the high growth, margin -accretive and resilient digital business process services … while we are further increasing our exposure to the American market,” said Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat in a press statement.
The customers of WNS are large organizations such as Coca-Cola, T-Mobile and United Airlines.
During a conference call with media and analysts, Ezzat said that the acquisition would immediately create cross-selling opportunities between the two companies, mainly in the US and Great Britain.
Capgemini expects the deal to be closed by the end of 2025 and will immediately be tackled in the turnover and the operational margin.
However, the shares fell about 5% after the news, the biggest losers on the European Benchmark Stoxx 600 index from 1024 GMT, where Morgan Stanley analysts say that the deal would limit its balance flexibility while having no major impact on financial resources.
Some investors are also concerned that Gen AI could influence the typical personnel -intensive business process (BPO) market, which could bite into the income of Capgemini and expose them to new competition, the analysts said in a research memorandum.
“We expect investors to see the opportunity that could result from the disturbance of BPO with Gen Ai, but think that some proof will be needed to convince the market that WNS is the right vehicle,” they added.
(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
