Nasdaq-listed ExlService Holdings Inc, one of the country?s leading BPO firms, plans to open two new facilities in Noida and Jaipur. The two new centres, which will be opened sometime next year, will be in the special economic zones (SEZs). Rohit Kapoor, co-founder and president, EXLService told FE that the company will be investing close to $11 million in these two facilities. While the Noida centre will be a 900-seater one with a capacity of housing 1,600 employees, the Jaipur facility will house 450 employees.
EXLService, which currently has 12 delivery centres globally, will be opening another one in Romania by 2010. Moreover, its recent acquisition of American Express? global travel service centre will add another facility in Gurgaon to its list. Kapoor added that the company is also hiring for its facilities in Philippines and Czech Republic.
Having made two acquisitions in the last one year, Kapoor said the company is scouting for more buyouts. ?We have $120 million of cash on our books and we are considering US onshore companies along with several captives,? said Kapoor.
For the BPO firm, the insurance sector is the largest vertical contributing around 50% to its revenues. The company is also quite big in the utilities space with 30% of its revenues coming from that vertical itself. Kapoor said that these verticals will be the top priority for the company from an acquisition point of view. The firm is also trying to increase its presence in the banking sector, which currently contributes not a very significant amount to the company?s balance sheet unlike other BPO firms.
?There are several captive BPOs in the banking space, which are on the block right now. We are looking at them,? he said. Kapoor added that US onshore companies are willing to sell out at five to seven time multiple of EBITDA right now. ?Valuations have significantly come down and are at a reasonable level currently,? he said.