PARIS, July 7, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - French IT firm Capgemini said on Monday it was buying business process services provider WNS for $3.3 billion in cash to create a leader in AI agents for businesses.

Both firms already help businesses deploy AI and hope their combined forces will help them excel in creating autonomous agents, or agentic AI, to handle certain business processes.

"Capgemini's acquisition of WNS will provide the group with the scale and vertical sector expertise to capture that rapidly emerging strategic opportunity created by the paradigm shift from traditional BPS to agentic AI-powered intelligent operations," said Capgemini chief executive Aiman Ezzat.

WNS is a major player in the BPS industry -- business process services outsourcing -- in which companies hand off certain business functions.

The London-headquartered company got its start in the late 1990s serving British Airways.

It now operates in many sectors, with a second headquarters in India and a NY stock listing.

The BPS industry has transformed from just helping companies cut costs by outsourcing back-office tasks to helping them transform these operations via technology.

"Organisations that have already digitised are now seeking to reimagine their operating models by embedding AI at the core -- shifting from automation to autonomy," said WNS chief executive Keshav Murugesh.

Autonomous AI agents can make decisions on their own and perform tasks without human intervention.

The deal will see Capgemini, which consults and helps firms develop IT systems, acquire WNS for $76.50 per share in cash, a 28-percent premium to the company's 90-day average share price.

Capgemini said the transaction would immediately add cross-selling opportunities.

It would add four percent to its earnings per share in 2026 even before synergies, it said, rising to seven percent in 2027 once those are included.

The transaction was unanimously approved by the boards of both companies, they said in a joint statement.

Capgemini said it had secured bridge financing of four billion euros ($4.7 billion) to cover the purchase and take over WNS's debt