TELUS International, a business process outsourcing (BPO) provider, has acquired Voxpro, an Irish contact center outsourcer with locations in the United States, Ireland, Romania, and the Philippines. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal grows TELUS International's U.S. footprint with locations in Folsom, Calif., and Athens, Ga. In addition, Voxpro's European operations will add new service delivery centers in Ireland, Bucharest, Romania, and Manila.
"Not only does this purchase make commercial sense in terms of TELUS International's efforts to increase its market share, it does so by buying one of the more disruptive players in the contact center space," observes Peter Ryan, principal at Ryan Strategic Advisory. "With this deal, TELUS International augments its already strong presence in important demand and delivery markets. And, Voxpro provides access to some intriguing vertical opportunities, as well as a strong executive team that will join the combined entity’s leadership."
The announcement that TELUS is buying Voxpro should come as no surprise, according to Ryan, who notes that Voxpro "has been one of the most active in the industry over the past two years."
TELUS International also stands to gain from Voxpro’s leadership in digital delivery, Ryan maintains. "Over the past few years, non-voice customer service has been one of Voxpro;'s differentiators," he says, "and has arguably been one of its primary advantages in winning business from technology firms, especially those born of the digital generation."
"This is a partnership of like-minded organizations focused on providing world-class brand experiences for our clients and their customers," said Jeffrey Puritt, TELUS International's president and CEO, in a statement. "Together, we provide a truly differentiated offering in the marketplace designed to meet our fast-growing partner demands for more locations, flexible and agile support structures, and highly engaged multilingual team members committed to customer service excellence."
Approximately 2,700 Voxpro team members, including the Voxpro leadership team, will join TELUS International, bringing the combined employee base to almost 28,000 team members across the globe serving customers in more than 35 languages.
"It's an extremely special day for us and for all of our partners, team members, and indeed, everyone in the Voxpro community," said Dan Kiely, Voxpro's co-founder and CEO, in a statement. "We couldn't be more proud to find a fabulous partner like TELUS International, a company that shares our entrepreneurial spirit and relentless desire to redefine and disrupt the outsourcing industry when it comes to serving the customer experience needs of such important brands. As part of the TELUS International family, we will continue to build our thriving culture focused on putting our team members and customers first."
But Ryan points out that this acquisition might just be the first of many. "To be clear, the global contact center services space remains on a consolidation trajectory. With the pick-up of Voxpro, TELUS International has just raised the competitive stakes," he says.