ICICI OneSource acquires FirstRing

BANGALORE: Consolidation in the Indian BPO sector continues as ICICI OneSource (I-OneSource) has entered into an agreement to acquire city base contact center, FirstRing. CIOL had reported the news on May 26^th, 2003.

FirstRing, established in May 1999, has over 800 employees and a 650-seat facility located at Information Technology Park Limited (ITPL) in Bangalore. FirstRing services more than ten US-based clients and its investors include WestBridge Capital Partners, the Hero Group and Ravi Sethi, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur. The company focuses on voice based services and has a strong presence in the financial services industry.

ICICI OneSource, founded in December 2001, is one of the largest and fastest growing Indian BPO providers, with 2700 employees and 1350 seats across three operational centers.

Post acquisition, ICICI OneSource will have over 3500 employees and 2000 seats across four delivery centers in Bangalore and Mumbai, with a fifth center being built out in Mumbai, making it among the top few independent BPO players in India.

"The acquisition of FirstRing increases the scale of our operations and our value proposition to the market," said Ananda Mukerji, Managing Director & CEO, ICICI OneSource. "It provides us with strong complementary capabilities, particularly in outbound services, and access to a very impressive client list."

Under the terms of the agreement, ICICI OneSource will acquire FirstRing's India and US operations as well as the clients and workforce of FirstRing.

According to Gartner Group estimates, the global BPO market is expected to reach US$ 234 billion by 2005. About 30 percent of this business is expected to come from banking, insurance and financial services. "Since our entry into the market, I-OneSource has witnessed strong growth and momentum. As we expand our operations, we would continue to look at acquisition opportunities, particularly where it would complement I-OneSource's existing capabilities and domain expertise" added Mukerji.

"We are pleased that ICICI OneSource saw value in the platform, telemarketing expertise and customer base that FirstRing has built," said KP Balaraj, Chairman, FirstRing and Managing Director of WestBridge Capital Partners, the lead investor in the company. "We believe that the brand, scale and balance sheet advantages that ICICI OneSource possesses will result in our clients having the benefit of a platform that can scale rapidly as well as enable them to source an enhanced offering from us. We look forward to working closely with the management team in building ICICI OneSource into a global market leader in the BPO space". WestBridge Capital would also be investing directly into ICICI OneSource and Balaraj will join the board of directors of I-OneSource.