Essar Group’s business process outsourcing and technology arm, Aegis Ltd, has acquired CCN Group PTY Ltd, a South Africa-based BPO firm, for around $30 million. This is Aegis’ 12th acquisition and will mark its entry into the South African market. In May this year, Aegis had announced the acquisition of UCMS Group, a BPO firm in Australia, for around Rs 203 crore (A$54 million). The deal, however, is still awaiting regulatory approvals.
The company plans to invest $60 million in South Africa in the next three years and plans to create around 5,000 jobs there. Sandip Sen, global chief marketing officer and head of sales, Aegis, said: “We are putting in a significant amount of our overall South Africa planned investment of $60 million into this acquisition.” Though the company officially declined to comment on the deal size, sources put the number to around $30 million.
Seven-year-old CCN reported revenues of over $19 million for the financial year 2008-09. The company’s clientele includes both onshore and off-shore customers with significant revenues from UK-based clients. CCN has a capacity of 700 seats and has over 1,000 employees operating at its two facilities. Aparup Sengupta, global CEO and managing director of Aegis, said that the company planned to hire 4,000 people for the entity over the next three years.
“CCN is a strategic fit for Aegis and South Africa is an integral part of our growth strategy. We plan to hire another 4,000 people in the next three years in the country, a step towards our commitment to creating 5,000 jobs in South Africa over a period of time,” Sengupta said. He added that the company planned to service its European clients out of the South Africa centre.
With more than 33,000 employees globally, Aegis has 32 delivery facilities across the world. The company had acquired a Nasdaq-listed outsourcing firm PeopleSupport, Inc, in October last year. Recently, Aegis had spun off its technology arm into a separate company, Aegis Tech Ltd, to offer end-to-end software solutions. The company had said that it would invest around $100 million in the new venture over the next 12 months. Aegis reported revenues close to $500 million for the year ended March 2009.