Equity Firm Pours $48 Million Into Chinese IT Outsourcing Company

[OhioChick]

Francisco Partners' massive investment in DarwinSuzsoft is a ringing endorsement of the opportunities for software outsourcing and development in China.

August 7, 2007 12:43 PM


One of the world's largest technology investment firms announced today that it will sink $48 million in private equity into DarwinSuzsoft, a Chinese company that specializes in IT outsourcing.

The deal by Francisco Partners, which has $5 billion in capital, demonstrates the growing momentum in China as a destination for IT and business-process outsourcing. Francisco is known for such deals as its $200 million acquisition of software company FrontRange Solutions and sizable investments in Barracuda Networks and Primavera Systems.

"We think it's the largest deal ever done for outsourcing and offshoring in China," said DarwinSuzsoft CEO Dan Ross in an interview. "It's not typical for a Chinese investment, but I think you'll start to see more of this because the heat is growing rapidly in terms of the marketplace."

DarwinSuzsoft employs 1,000 people, of which about 800 are in China. Its outsourcing business is in both BPO and IT, ranging from quality and assurance to application development, and its customers are primarily in the financial services, insurance, and the technology industries, with rapid growth in health care.
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