Intelenet Acquires Upstream BPO, Travelport

[sukishan]

These two acquisitions will enable Intelenet to expand its delivery footprint from solely offshore centres, to an on-shore and near-shore capability based out of the US and Latin America.

Monday, December 03, 2007:  Intelenet Global Services, a global third party BPO company, has acquired a company in Mauritius which owns two global companies – Upstream, a BPO company and Travelport ISO, the India-based captive operations part of the Travelport group. This is said to be Intelenet's first major step in its aggressive inorganic growth plan, which was set in motion following the management buy-out backed by Blackstone in June 2007. 
US-headquartered Upstream employs over 1,200 people across three on-shore delivery centres in the US, two near-shore delivery centres in Latin America (Guatemala and Panama) and an offshore delivery centre in Mauritius. The company provides multi-channel contact centre solutions for nine key clients primarily in the travel and IT domain. Travelport ISO offers voice, BPO and finance and accounting services to leading global travel brands and employs 1,100 people across two locations in India.

These acquisitions, to the tune of $75 million, will enable Intelenet to expand its delivery footprint from solely offshore centres, to an on-shore and near-shore capability based out of the US and Latin America. This global delivery expansion also adds new geographies such as Mauritius and builds upon the multiple language capability portfolio with Spanish and French.

Commenting on the acquisitions, Susir Kumar, CEO, Intelenet Global Services, said, "This is in line with our multi-pronged growth strategy of organic, inorganic growth and leveraging Blackstone's network of portfolio companies. Upstream gives us a firm foothold into servicing the US market and Travelport ISO will enhance our offshore delivery capabilities here in India. Travelport ISO will also enable us to deliver end-to-end in the travel domain, harnessing its experience in servicing some of the world's largest travel brands."

According to Akhil Gupta, chairman, Blackstone India, "These two acquisitions will add to Intelenet's current scale and deep domain expertise in key verticals, making it attractive to customers worldwide including Blackstone's portfolio companies. I am glad that Blackstone, through its portfolio, has already been able to add significant value to Intelenet."