TOKYO – Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC will invest in WHI Holdings to jointly own its operating company, Works Human Intelligence, with private equity firm Bain Capital.
GIC and Bain Capital did not disclose how much the Singapore fund would invest in the human resources software provider, but said that the transaction would be the largest private equity acquisition of a software company in Japan.
The Nikkei business daily had reported on Thursday that the deal would value WHI at 350 billion yen (S$3.5 billion), with GIC acquiring about half of Works Human’s shares and the rest held by Works Human executives and Bain.
The United States private equity firm bought the business for 100 billion yen in 2019, according to Nikkei.
GIC and Bain said the additional capital would be used to support WHI’s next phase of growth.
Works Human is a spin-off of the former Works Applications, a developer of enterprise software, which sold its human resources management division to Bain.
GIC has recently been making acquisitions in Japan. In 2022, it struck a deal to buy part of railway giant Seibu Holdings’ hospitality portfolio for 150 billion yen.
The 31 properties in the deal comprise 15 hotels, 10 golf courses and six ski resorts.
Nikkei said GIC also participated in bidding for the Sogo & Seibu department store chain last year when it was offered by 7-Eleven operator Seven & i Holdings. REUTERS
