By Mateusz Rabiega
(Reuters) -France's Capgemini has agreed to buy technology outsourcing firm WNS for $3.3 billion in cash to expand the range of AI tools it offers for companies, the IT services group said on Monday.
The deal equips Capgemini to create a consulting business service focused on helping companies improve their processes and cost efficiency with the use of artificial intelligence, namely generative AI and agentic AI, which it expects to attract significant investments.
The purchase price translating to $76.50 per WNS share represents a 17% premium compared to their last closing price on July 3 and does not include WNS's financial debt, Capgemini said.
Its interest in India-based WNS, whose services include business process outsourcing and data analytics, was first reported by Reuters in April.
“WNS brings … its high growth, margin accretive and resilient Digital Business Process Services … while further increasing our exposure to the US market,” Capgemini CEO Aiman Ezzat said in a press statement.
WNS's customers include large organizations such as Coca-Cola, T-Mobile and United Airlines.
On a conference call with media and analysts, Ezzat said the acquisition would immediately create cross-selling opportunities between the two companies, mainly in the U.S. and Britain.
Capgemini expects the deal to be closed by the end of 2025 and be immediately accretive to its revenue and operating margin.
However, its shares fell around 5% following the news, the biggest losers on Europe's benchmark STOXX 600 index as of 1024 GMT, with Morgan Stanley analysts saying the deal would limit its balance sheet flexibility while not having a major impact on financials.
Some investors are also concerned that Gen AI could impact the typically staff-intensive business process outsourcing (BPO) market, which could bite into Capgemini's revenues and expose it to new competition, the analysts said in a research note.
“We expect investors to be able to see the opportunity that could come from disrupting BPO with Gen AI but think some evidence will be needed to convince the market WNS is the right vehicle,” they added.
(Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
