Global investment firm Carlyle and Quest Global on Tuesday announced they have reached a definitive partnership agreement whereby Carlyle will acquire a significant minority stake in the company.

Equity for this transaction will come from funds managed and advised by entities affiliated with Carlyle Asia Partners. As part of this transaction, current investors Bain Capital and Advent International will exit.

Quest Global will repurchase its company shares,while Ajit Prabhu, chairman and CEO of Quest Global, will acquire an additional stake in the company.

According to Carlyle, the partnership approach taken for the transaction demonstrates Quest Global’s commitment to the long-term success of its business strategy and its employees.

While it did not give any financial details of the transaction, it is learnt that Carlyle will acquire a 28 per cent stake for $500 million, thus leading to a valuation of $1.8 billion.

Singapore-based Quest Global is a leading global player in engineering, research and development services for the design, product development and operations of complex engineering systems. It has a team of 17,500 engineers, across 67 delivery centers and offices, in 17 countries.

The company has reportedly been looking to ramp up its headcount in India where the number currently stands at 10,000 out of a total global employee base of 17,500.

“Carlyle was the first early-stage private equity investor in Quest Global and we are proud to partner again,” Amit Jain, MD and head of Carlyle India Advisors, said.