Aegis, Startek conclude transaction; Aparup Sengupta appointed Chairman

Aegis, a portfolio company of Capital Square Partners (CSP), and StarTek, both providers of outsourcing and technology services, have announced the completion of a business combination transaction.

Aegis and Startek had previously announced that they had entered into a definitive agreement on March this year relating to a strategic transaction to create a combined business aggregate pro forma 2017 revenues exceeding US$700 million. 

Aparup Sengupta, who was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the combined business said, “This transaction is expected to be value accretive for the new company with access to world’s most rapidly growing markets, multi-lingual offerings, strong footprint and the institution of operational excellence capabilities and industry best practices."

Sengupta is not only the founder of Aegis but is widely considered for being the sole strategist behing the rapid rise of teh BPO company. Under 8 years of Sengupta's leadership the company had acquired around 14 companies and scaled it up across 13 geographies.

Post this transaction, an affiliate of CSP now owns approximately 55 per cent and Startek shareholders existing prior to the consummation of the transaction own approximately 45 per cent of the combined business.  The combined business will remain publicly listed on the NYSE under the name “StarTek, Inc.” and the ticker symbol “SRT,” and the headquarters will remain outside of Denver, CO.  The combined business has over 50,000 employees and a significant presence across 66 business process outsourcing (BPO) locations in 13 countries and 6 continents.

Last year, Essar Group, the then owner of Aegis had sold the BPO company to CSP in a deal valued at around Rs 20 billion, which marked Essar’s exit from the BPO business. Prior to this, the diversified business group in 2014 had sold Aegis’ businesses in the US, Philippines and Costa Rica to Paris-based Teleperformance for $610 million (around Rs 36.4 billion). Since then, Aegis had stayed away from these markets.

Startek has also announced the addition of Lance Rosenzweig as the Global CEO of the combined business. This development is aimed at strengthening leadership culture to significantly diversify revenue base, driving innovation and expand into new growth markets, while enhancing margin and profitability. 

Lance Rosenzweig, Global CEO, of the combined business said, “Our employees have been the core of our success and with this alignment, we are excited to integrate talent, experience, products and services in order to be able to transition into a global leader in the BPM space. We will continue to drive technology innovation and provide world-class support and value to our clients globally.”

 The inducement grant to Mr. Rosenzweig will consist of options to purchase 584,000 shares of the Company's common stock, with the options to have a ten-year term and an exercise price equal to the fair market value of a share on the date of grant.