What happened: Vancouver-based Telus is using debt and equity to finance a deal to buy call centre company for $1.3 billion
Why it matters: The latest deal comes just weeks after the telecom giant acquired security firm ADT for $700 million
Telus Corp. (TSX:T) is dishing out $1.3 billion to acquire a German call centre company, adding to the tally of recent monster acquisitions by the Vancouver company.
The telecom giant announced after the close of markets Wednesday (December 4) it would be using a mix of debt and equity to buy Competence Call Center (CCC) through its Telus International subsidiary.
Telus CEO Darren Entwistle said in a statement adding CCC to its portfolio makes Telus International well positioned for a potential initial public offering in the next 12-24 months.
“Post-merger, Telus International’s size, scope and reach will grow to encompass almost 50,000 of the most inspired team members, providing customer experience, digital transformation, content moderation, IT lifecycle, advisory and digital consulting, risk management, and back-office support in over 50 languages from more than 50 delivery centres in 20 countries across North and Central America, Europe and Asia,” he said.
CCC was founded in Austria in 1998 but is now headquartered in Berlin and employs 8,500 workers.
Senior management at CCC will “reinvest a significant portion of their equity ownership in CCC into Telus International” while Telus will retain a 62% interest in Telus International following the close of the deal, according to a release.
The CCC acquisition comes after Telus last month closed a deal to buy ADT Security Services Canada, Inc. for $700 million.
ADT has about 500,000 customers and employs about 1,000 workers, which Telus said at the time it would be “welcoming” to its corporate umbrella.
In January 2018 the telecom company paid $66.5 million to acquire the Western Canadian assets of AlarmForce and its 39,000 customers in B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan.
