One could clearly see a sudden increase in the number of M&As in the Indian BPO industry over the last year. What is it that is actually prompting players to go for a kill? by Ashutosh Harbola
While 2008 was a great year for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the Indian BPO industry (the industry witnessed 13 M&As including Citigroup Global Services’ acquisition by TCS for $505 million, Quattro’ takeover of RSM McGladrey and Babel Media for $50 million & $125 million respectively, WNS buying Aviva Global Service for $230 million, et al), uncertain economic conditions across the globe perhaps forced several companies to hold on to their cash last year (M&A activity within the industry reduced by 55% in 2009). But the year still saw players like EXL Service Holdings acquiring Schneider National (for $40 million), Cognizant buying UBS BPO Unit (for $75 million), EXL Service Holdings purchasing Am-Ex Travel Services Captive India for $30 million and Infosys BPO taking over McCamish Systems for $38 million.
FY2010 has just started and players like Genpact and Aegis have already announced one acquisition each. While Aegis, the back office company promoted by the Essar Group, has agreed to acquire US-based education and financial service provider Sallie Mae’s customer service centre, India’s largest back-office firm Genpact is taking over US-based analytics and data management services provider Symphony Marketing Solutions. CBay Systems India and Avantha Group too have announced the acquisition of Spheris India and US-based Pyramid Healthcare Solutions respectively. So what is it that has prompted Indian BPO players to go in for the M&A option, one that comes with a huge amount of operational and value destruction risk?
The expectably positive sounding Nasscom-McKinsey report has projected the BPO space to be a $360 billion market opportunity across the globe by 2020. This is one reason why the industry continues to remain a favourite with VC & PE players who accounted for almost over 20% of all deals in 2009. Not to forget, their total investment portfolio for this industry has grown 16 times in the past eight years, at a CAGR of 42%. Even in a year weakened by recession, there has been no let-up in their interest in the BPO sector in India, with a 9% increase in total investment portfolio over 2008. And with the overall global economy recovering in 2010, that concentration is only poised to augment further.
Another thing which has prompted the shift is the fact that the Indian BPO sector has evolved significantly over the last decade, and has matured beyond the pioneer phase to enter the ‘emerging rapid growth’ phase. Players in the BPO industry can now be seen foraying into areas such as business analytics, knowledge-based services apart from transforming clients businesses through a mix of re-engineering skills, technology enabled platforms, new operating models and increased depth of services.
While 2008 was a great year for mergers and acquisitions (M&As) within the Indian BPO industry (the industry witnessed 13 M&As including Citigroup Global Services’ acquisition by TCS for $505 million, Quattro’ takeover of RSM McGladrey and Babel Media for $50 million & $125 million respectively, WNS buying Aviva Global Service for $230 million, et al), uncertain economic conditions across the globe perhaps forced several companies to hold on to their cash last year (M&A activity within the industry reduced by 55% in 2009). But the year still saw players like EXL Service Holdings acquiring Schneider National (for $40 million), Cognizant buying UBS BPO Unit (for $75 million), EXL Service Holdings purchasing Am-Ex Travel Services Captive India for $30 million and Infosys BPO taking over McCamish Systems for $38 million.
FY2010 has just started and players like Genpact and Aegis have already announced one acquisition each. While Aegis, the back office company promoted by the Essar Group, has agreed to acquire US-based education and financial service provider Sallie Mae’s customer service centre, India’s largest back-office firm Genpact is taking over US-based analytics and data management services provider Symphony Marketing Solutions. CBay Systems India and Avantha Group too have announced the acquisition of Spheris India and US-based Pyramid Healthcare Solutions respectively. So what is it that has prompted Indian BPO players to go in for the M&A option, one that comes with a huge amount of operational and value destruction risk?
The expectably positive sounding Nasscom-McKinsey report has projected the BPO space to be a $360 billion market opportunity across the globe by 2020. This is one reason why the industry continues to remain a favourite with VC & PE players who accounted for almost over 20% of all deals in 2009. Not to forget, their total investment portfolio for this industry has grown 16 times in the past eight years, at a CAGR of 42%. Even in a year weakened by recession, there has been no let-up in their interest in the BPO sector in India, with a 9% increase in total investment portfolio over 2008. And with the overall global economy recovering in 2010, that concentration is only poised to augment further.
Another thing which has prompted the shift is the fact that the Indian BPO sector has evolved significantly over the last decade, and has matured beyond the pioneer phase to enter the ‘emerging rapid growth’ phase. Players in the BPO industry can now be seen foraying into areas such as business analytics, knowledge-based services apart from transforming clients businesses through a mix of re-engineering skills, technology enabled platforms, new operating models and increased depth of services.
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Source : IIPM Editorial, 2010.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri and Arindam chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).
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