Apax Partners is in talks with Patni Computer Systems, India’s oldest software company, about acquiring an $800 million (£404 million) controlling stake in a deal that would mark the entry of one of the world’s largest private equity groups into India.

The UK-based firm is understood to be in preliminary discussions with the family-controlled company, listed in Bombay and New York.

Other private equity investors eyeing the company are thought to include Blackstone and Carlyle. Rival software groups IBM and Computer Sciences Corporation are also reported to be interested.

If agreed, the deal would represent Apax’s first direct investment in India. It is likely to be financed through its $15 billion global fund.

The firm opened an India office last November. The operation is headed by Neeraj Bharadwaj, who has worked for McKinsey, Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.

Patni was launched in 1978 by three brothers, Gajendra, Narendra and Ashok Patni, who all studied software engineering at the leading Indian technology institute.

It now ranks among the country’s top ten software exporters with about 13,000 employees in Asia, Europe and the US, but its influence in India’s $48 billion IT sector has faded in recent years.

It is thought that Gajendra and Ashok, executive directors who together own about 28 per cent of the equity in Patni, want to sell their shares.

General Atlantic Partners, which paid $100 million for a minority stake in 2002, is also a seller.

Narendra, the middle brother, who is chairman and chief executive, would retain his 16 per cent stake.

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