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Australia’s Acquire BPO looks to purchase 2-3 local companies
Posted on January 21, 2016 09:26:00 PM
By Daphne J. Magturo, Reporter
AUSTRALIA-based business outsourcer Acquire BPO is looking to buy two to three local firms, as it seeks to strengthen its hold in the market that contributes 95% of its global revenue.
“We are having two to three serious conversations with prospective targets… certainly in the BPO (business process outsourcing) space, servicing predominantly Australian and US markets,” Acquire BPO Chief Executive Officer Scott Stavretis told a media briefing yesterday at the company’s Ortigas office.
He said the deals are estimated to be worth between A$20 million-A$80 million (around P661 million to P2.6 billion) each, adding: “We have funds and resources.”
Mr. Stavretis said Acquire BPO’s revenue reached almost A$115 million (Around P3.8 billion) in 2015 — double its 2013 figures.
The company’s workforce increased to 7,000 from 2,500 after it bought local BPO SHORE Solutions, Inc. in November 2014.
Mr. Stavretis noted the revenue grows “proportionate” to the head count, and the company is gunning for a 10,000 employee target.
To accommodate its expansion, the company is likely to open a new site in Ortigas district within the year. This is expected to be its 10th site in the Philippines.
Aquire BPO has offices in Eastwood City in Quezon City and Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City, among others. It also operates from Australia, the US, and Dominican Republic.
“Our vision is to dominate the Australian business community when it comes to offshore jobs, and the Philippines is the ideal place for English language outsourcing for contact centers and back office processes,” he said.
The Acquire BPO chief noted the country’s main selling point is its working population’s proficiency in English, and if the local education system improves to meet the company’s requirements, “there’s no need for us to put resources outside the Philippines.”
This month alone, the firm signed up six clients for its Philippine operations.
“While our competitors were sleeping during the holidays, we were bustling,” Mr. Stavretis said, in jest.
Acquire BPO’s services cover contact centers, information technology, animation, and marketing, among others.
The BPO sector has been a major component of the Philippine economy, with BPO revenues growing at a faster clip than overseas Filipino workers’ remittances.
The IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines earlier set an industry target of 1.3 million direct employment and a revenue of $25 billion by 2016.
