Outsourcing service provider Hinduja Global Solutions Limited (HGSL) has,through its European subsidiary, acquired 100% stake in UK-based customer relationship management company, Careline Services.
Careline Services is a leading contact centre provider servicing more than 20 marquee customers across verticals such as government, FMCG, financial services, automobiles, Ttelecom & retail.
Established in 1997, it has over 1,000 employees across three sites in the UK, one in London and two in Scotland. It handles in excess of 50,000 customer interactions every day across multiple channels and in 14 languages. The CEO of Careline Services, the senior management team and key employees of Careline Services will continue in their roles after the acquisition.
This acquisition will act as a launch pad for HGSL to enter the large UK and European markets and will also be a platform to cross sell its global delivery model to Careline’s European client base. This is HGSL’s first acquisition in UK and it expects to grow the business rapidly in the next few years.
The BPO industry in India is betting big on acquisitions for growth. Last month, Essar Group agreed to buy 59.13% stake held by Avaya in global business communications firm AGC Networks, erstwhile Avaya GlobalConnect, for $44.5 million (Rs 206.19 crore), or Rs 245 a share through its IT and BPO arm Aegis. Business Standard has reported that Aegis is evaluating 5-6 companies in the US, Latin America, Europe and Africa. Aegis has made 13 acquisitions in the last 3-4 years. Recently, the company signed an agreement to acquire US-based Sallie Mae’s customer service centre in Texas, for an undisclosed amount.
According to VCCEdge data, since 2005, 34 outbound deals worth $1.9 billion took place in Indian outsourcing industry. The major deals this year include Patni Computers' buyout of CHCS Services Inc, Aditya Birla Minacs' buyout of Compass BPO Ltd and Intelenet Global Services Ltd's acquisition of FirstInfo Ltd for $67 million.
With this acquisition, HGSL will have a presence in 29 delivery centres across the USA, India, Philippines, Canada, Mauritius and the U.K. and its global headcount will cross 16,000 people.
