Private equity firm Everstone Group, along with Singapore-based Sunrise BPO, has agreed to acquire the US-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions provider C3 (CustomerContactChannels) for an undisclosed amount, said a statement.
The investment will be closed through Everise Services in Singapore, a company held by Everstone, along with Sunrise BPO as a co-investor. Everise will acquire 100% of C3, giving exit to a 2011 investment by Stone Point Capital, a private equity fund by Stephen Friedman, who retired as chairman of Goldman Sachs.
Everise plans to make C3 into an over $500 million revenue company in the next five years, from nearly $200 million currently. As part of this strategy, Singapore-based Sunrise BPO Pte. Ltd (Sunrise BPO), will take the leading role in operating the business, in addition to bringing capital. Everstone will be the largest financial investor and it will take the lead in C3’s India operational build-out to grow the company. Sudhir Agarwal, the founder of Sunrise BPO would become the new CEO of C3.
Prateek Dhawan, managing director, Private Equity, Everstone Group will join the Everise board. “Taking the C3 platform and enhancing its delivery model using analytics and other technology tools is a huge opportunity,†Dhawan said. “We look forward to growing C3 organically, as well as inorganically.â€
Everstone had separately partnered with Verlinvest in February 2012 to build a portfolio of food and beverage (F&B) assets in India and Southeast Asia and is its co-investor in several ventures such as Pan India Food Solutions, a restaurant operator and owner of Noodle Bar, Bombay Blue and Copper Chimney brands. It also runs the India franchise of Burger King. It was not immediately clear if Sunrise would try to build a portfolio of outsourcing companies. “It is too early and the comparison is not the same. Right now, we are only working on C3 and the focus is on its success,†said a spokesperson from Everstone.
In another instance, it picked stake in the ITES-enabled space after it acquired Servion Global Solutions, along with US-based Solmark through Evertech Pte Ltd, the Everstone Group’s technology investing platform.
“I look forward to leveraging our deep understanding of the sector and strong presence in India to further build C3’s global business,†Sameer Sain, Co-Founder & Managing Partner of the Everstone Group, said.
Agarwal added that Sunrise BPO not only brings capital, along with our key partner Everstone, but we also bring in the capability to rapidly scale C3’s business in the US and Asia.
Everstone Capital Partners III LP
The investment comes from Everstone’s third investment from its latest $730 million private equity fund, ECP III, that provides growth stage capital to companies operating in the Indian sub-continent. The fund seeks to invest in infrastructure, healthcare, consumer goods and services, financial services, and the education sector.
C3
Founded in 2010, US-based C3 has operations in the Philippines and Guatemala and a revenue CAGR of more than 60% over the past six years. The company has more than 20 clients in healthcare, telecommunications & media, consumer internet, logistics, retail, travel & hospitality and financial services. C3 also provides training and consulting in the customer management solutions space, as well as sales, performance optimization, reputation management and complete customer lifecycle management via traditional, web, and emerging communication channels.
The current President & COO of C3, Rick Ferry, along with the leadership team, will continue as part of the leadership in his new role as CEO-USA.
C3 provides multi-lingual support to clients and has seven operating centers across the US, the Philippines and Guatemala, with nearly 8,000 employees.
BPO deals
Last September, Blackstone had bought the UK-based Serco’s India business process outsourcing operations for $385 million in a deal that helped it emerge as a major force in the $26 billion Indian BPO industry.
The world's top PE firm had previously also invested in IT company CMS Info Systems and last year sold it to Baring Private Equity Asia.
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