Ayala unit buys 11% of eTelecare for P800M

LiveIT Solutions Inc., a newly incorporated subsidiary of Ayala Corp., has purchased 11 percent of eTelecare Global Solutions Inc. for P800 million.

The acquisition was made through LiveIT’s wholly-owned special purpose vehicle, New Bridge International Investment Ltd.

LiveIT a 100-percent owned subsidiary of conglomerate Ayala Corp., is the holding company for the group’s investments in the rapidly growing business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

In a statement, Ayala Corp. said eTelecare will be LiveIT’s primary investment in the fast-growing call center industry.

eTelecare was started in 2000 and is one of the leading call center companies in Asia, serving large global clients in the telecommunications, electronics, financial and travel industries.

With over 7,000 employees in 12 call centers in the Philippines and the United States, the company reported $41 million in revenues and $3.3 million in operating income for the first quarter of 2006.

LiveIT seeks to invest in companies that provide complex non-voice outsourced services, in areas such as research and analytics, legal, financial and healthcare industries. It plans to focus on BPO companies in the US, the Philippines and India that have well-developed customer relationships in the international markets and the potential to leverage the Philippines’ large pool of skilled professionals.

"We are very positive about this foray into the BPO sector. This is an area where the Philippines has a strong competitive advantage given our wealth of talent, strong communications skills, and well-developed telecom infrastructure. We are actively seeking additional opportunities that will enable us to provide high value added services," said Ayala chairman and chief executive officer Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala.

Alfredo I. Ayala has been appointed as CEO of LiveIT to spearhead the group’s initiatives in the BPO sector. He was formerly CEO of eTelecare and chairman of SPI Technologies, one of the country’s leading non-voice BPO companies. He is currently non-executive chairman of eTelecare.

"We believe Mr. Ayala’s experience in helping to build world-class BPO companies will be of great value to our efforts,"Zobel said.

The conglomerate is carving a niche in the build-to-suit office building segment as it addresses the growing demand from call centers and BPO firms. It has completed two new buildings which increased the company’s office portfolio by 43 percent to about 100,000 square meters.

Property unit Ayala Land Inc. has earmarked P500 million this year for the establishment of its so-called BPO campuses in Metro Manila. The BPO campuses will be located in the northern and southern parts of Metro Manila. The project would entail a development period of five years, starting this year.

The call-center business is the fastest-growing segment of the BPO industry and a major source of job growth in the Philippines. Government data indicate that from just 3,500 seats in 2001, the business has grown to 20,000 seats in 2003 and was estimated to have reached 40,000 last year.

The government is targeting 60,000 seats this year. Each call-center seat is equivalent to around two jobs.