Paxys to lease Phinma bldg for call center operations

Paxys Inc., formerly Fil-Hispano Holdings Corp., has inked a deal with the Phinma Group to lease nearly half of the latter’s five-storey building in Makati for the call center operations of its wholly-owned unit Advanced Contact Solutions (ACS).

Paxys chairman Tarcisio M. Medalla said Phinma has agreed to lease out to ACS 3,200 square meters of office space in the former AsianBank headquarters along Gil Puyat Ave. in Makati. The new call center site, which is expected to begin operations next month, will add up to 600 seats to ACS’s existing capacity of 2,800 seats.

Under the agreement, Medalla said Paxys has an option to take an additional 4,300 square meters of office space.

Medalla said Paxys may likely exercise this option and take over the rest of the building by next year with the Philippines’ continued rise as an outsourcing destination of choice by big foreign business process outsourcing firms.

"We’re continuing to expand aggressively because the speedy growth of the call center business has not shown any signs of slowing down anytime soon," Medalla said.

A portion of the P300 million proceeds from Paxy’s recently completed stock rights offering will be used to finance its expansion.

Medalla said the new site will also be used as the group’s headquarters for recruitment.

"People will continue to be our top priority and will remain as one of the greatest challenges we face as we grow faster. We will invest management time and resources on recruitment, leadership training and other initiatives to stay ahead of our competitors," Medalla said.

Medalla said Paxys had tied up with leading educational institutions to give it one of the most efficient and effective recruitment system among local call center providers

To ensure continued growth, Paxys is looking at acquisitions, mainly in the medical and legal transcription outsourcing business.

ACS has been increasing its capacity significantly over the last three years and is confident of sustaining its growth rate in the medium term in view of the promising prospects of the outsourcing industry.

ACS has three world-class facilities at the Citibank Center in Makati City, the Allied Bank building in Makati, and in Cabuyao, Laguna. It is looking at Cubao, Libis, Alabang and Ortigas as future sites for expansion.

The outsourcing business is seen to outperform the telecommunications industry as the Philippines’ top money maker over the next five years with the continued expansion of call center operations in the country. The worldwide demand for outsourcing services is expected to grow to $180 billion by 2010.