Aegis BPO eyeing African acquisition

On an acquisition spree, Essar Group's BPO arm Aegis is looking to acquire a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company in Africa.

"We are looking to acquire one BPO company in Africa. However, we can't disclose further details now," Essar Global Chairman Shashi Ruia told PTI.

Aegis BPO's Chief Executive Aparup Sengupta had said earlier that the company would like to expand its footprint in South Africa, which is a developing market.

"The acquisition or assets purchased will be in the area of customer lifecycle management space," Sengupta had said.

Aegis BPO has acquired 12 firms worldwide in the last three years. Latest to come into its fold is an Australian BPO service provider, UCMS Group, which it bought for AUD 45 million last month.

In October last, Aegis BPO had acquired Nasdaq-listed off-shoring firm "PeopleSupport" for close to Rs 1,057 crore. This enabled the Essar Group company to add the Philippines to its list of delivery locations.

The company had earlier said that it plans to acquire four BPO companies in a year. The merger and acquisition team of the firm at any given point of time evaluates at least six targets.