Manila, Philippines, January 7, 2014 — Ayala Corp. announced that its BPO investment arm, LiveIt, has agreed to the combination of Stream Global Services, Inc., which is 29% owned by LiveIt, and Convergys Corporation, creating the second largest customer management services provider in the world. Once the transaction is complete, Convergys expects to have combined revenues of over $3 billion, and approximately 125,000 employees (including more than 53,000 in the Philippines) serving clients in 35 languages from over 135 contact centers in 25 countries.
Under the agreed terms, LiveIt and its two private equity partners, Ares Management and Providence Equity Partners, will sell 100% of their respective holdings in Stream, with LiveIt realizing approximately $145 million in total net equity proceeds. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory approvals. Ayala Corp. expects to realize a net gain of approximately Pesos 2 billion ($46 million) through LiveIt.
Fred Ayala, LiveIt’s CEO, stated, “Our partners and we are pleased with this transaction, which we believe has strong strategic rationale. We are very proud of the Stream team, and grateful to the thousands of individuals who helped build it from an industry pioneer into a global leader.”
Mr. Ayala added, “We believe that the global IT-BPO industry will continue to expand, particularly in the Philippines, where we expect it to remain one of the country’s top generators of new jobs. Consequently, we are continuing to build our investee companies in the high growth segments of the industry, and starting to invest in the Education space, which we see as a critical enabler of the IT-BPO industry, given its ever increasing demand for well-trained Filipino talent.”