UPDATE 2-Singapore’s GIC to invest in Bain-owned Japanese HR software developer

TOKYO, March 30 (Reuters) – Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC will invest in WHI Holdings (WHI) to jointly own its operating company Works Human Intelligence with private equity firm Bain Capital.

GIC and Bain did not disclose how much the Singapore fund would invest in the human-resources software provider, but said the transaction would be the largest private equity acquisition of a software company in Japan.

The Nikkei business daily had reported on Thursday the deal would value WHI at 350 billion yen ($2.6 billion), with GIC acquiring about half of Works Human’s shares and the rest held by Works Human executives and Bain Capital.

The U.S. private equity firm bought the business for 100 billion yen in 2019, according to the Nikkei.

GIC and Bain said the additional capital will be used to support WHI’s next phase of growth.

Works Human is a spinoff of the former Works Applications, a developer of enterprise software, which sold its human-resources management division to Bain.

Reporting by Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Robert Birsel and Lincoln Feast.

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