HGS buys Canadian CRM firm for C$ 74.85 mn

BANGALORE, INDIA: Outsourcing solution provider Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS), part of Hinduja Group, announced on Wednesday that it has acquired Canada-based customer relationship management company On-Line Support Inc (OLS), at an enterprise value of 74.85 million Canadian dollar (nearly Rs 350 crore) in an all-cash deal.

HGS said in a regulatory filing that the acquisition has been made through its wholly-owned US subsidiary, HGS Inc.

OLS is a leading contact centre provider servicing marquee customers across verticals such as media, telecom, technology and BFSI. OLS offers technical support, inbound and outbound sales, customer care and customer retention in English and French languages and has over 1650 seats at 10 sites in Canada, it added.

In FY 2011, the Canadian firm had a turnover of C$63.4 million and currently has close to 1800 employees.

HGS said the CEO and the senior management team of OLS will continue in their current roles after the acquisition. This acquisition presents both the companies with opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell to their existing clients, said HGS.

With this acquisition, consolidated annual revenues of HGS will cross US$ 300 million on run rate basis. HGS now has a presence in 42 delivery centres across the USA, India, Philippines, Canada, Mauritius and the U.K. with offerings in more than 25 different languages. Also, now HGS can offer a broader portfolio of French language offerings to its existing clients.

Post the acquisition the HGS staff strength would be around 21,300 employees worldwide.