UPDATE 1-Warburg Pincus taps SAP executive to advise on tech deal spree

(Adds quote, fundraising reference)

By Pamela Barbaglia

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - U.S. investment firm Warburg Pincus has appointed SAP executive Brian Duffy as a senior adviser in its technology team as it bets on the digital transformation of its portfolio companies while also scouting for new tech targets.

The U.S. firm, known as a "growth investor" as it deploys cash to support companies that offer strong earnings potential in industries that have profited from the COVID-19 pandemic, has heavily invested in the telecoms, media and technology (TMT) sector since the start of the pandemic and will rely on Duffy's expertise to identify new investment opportunities globally.

Duffy will be based in Chicago where he will continue working with SAP as "president of cloud" overseeing the strategy to drive more customers to cloud computing.

Warburg Pincus' managing director Flavio Porciani said in a statement the firm wanted to provide its "current and prospective portfolio companies and their management teams with access to industry leaders and deep sector expertise," stressing Duffy's track record in promoting digital transformation.

Duffy, who has spent 16 years at SAP in various roles including head of its global strategic initiatives, will work closely with Warburg Pincus' European tech team, which recently worked on a 5.1 billion euro deal to take control of Deutsche Telekom's Dutch unit, T-Mobile Netherlands, as part of a consortium with Apax.

The 41-year-old Irishman will frequently travel to Europe where Warburg Pincus' regional co-heads, Adarsh Sarma in London and René Obermann in Berlin, both have a technology background and remain hungry for sector expansion.

Warburg Pincus has invested more than $24 billion in technology businesses since it was founded in 1966.

In 2020, it clinched deals for Norwegian software firm Visma and Britain's Community Fibre, while earlier this year, it backed Israeli fintech firm Personetics Technologies and analytics software firm Quantexa.

The New York-based company is in the early stages of raising $16 billion from investors for its latest flagship private equity fund, its biggest ever, sources told Reuters. (Reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London Editing by Matthew Lewis and Bernadette Baum)