Firstsource to acquire 74% stake in SL telco's BPO arm

BPO service provider Firstsource Solutions on Tuesday said it will acquire a 74% stake in Sri Lanka's telecom service provider Dialog Axiata PLC's BPO arm and the two firms will form a joint venture company called Firstsource-Dialog Solutions.

"The joint venture between Firstsource and Dialog will be consummated through Firstsource Solutions investing in, and acquiring a 74% share of Dialog Business Services, the recently formed BPO venture of the Dialog Axiata Group," a joint statement from the firms said.

The joint venture company will manage Dialog''s customer contact management operations across its mobile, fixed line, pay television and broadband businesses, the statement said.

"This is an important step for Firstsource, as we expand our presence in South Asia that is in line with our growth aspirations within the Asia Business Unit. This is a strategic decision to venture into the sub-continent to address the growing requirement for customer relationship management," Firstsource Solutions'' CEO and Managing Director Matthew Vallance, said.

Firstsource that operates in the USA, UK, Australia, Phillipines and India, and has over 26,000 employees globally, did not divulge any financial details of the deal.

"With Firstsource as the major investor in this company, I am confident that Firstsource-Dialog Solutions will be a forerunner in Sri Lanka''s Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) and BPO space," Dialog Axiata PLC Group CEO Hans Wijayasurya, said.

Dialog Axiata PLC is a subsidiary of Axiata Group Berhad and operates 2.5G and 3/3.5G mobile communications networks supporting the very latest in multimedia and mobile Internet services.

Dialog has the distinction of being the first 3G operator in South Asia to commence commercial operations. Its local coverage spans all provinces of Sri Lanka, while international roaming is provided in over 200 destinations. It has a subscriber base in excess of 6.7-million, the statement said.