Philippines-founded BPO lists on Canadian stock exchange

MANILA, Philippines — Asiatel Outsourcing Inc. made its debut on the TSX Venture Exchange on July 14, making it the first Philippine-founded outsourcing firm to list on the Canadian exchange.

Asiatel CEO Jasjit Singh Anand said in a briefing the company raised C$1 million ($700,000) from the listing, which will be used to support expansion plans.

He said that the company decided to list on the TSX as Canada is seen as an important and strategic market.

“We look at this as a listing that opens doors for us and the Canada market is very vibrant,” he said, noting that the country is home to many small and medium enterprises and junior companies.

“We see a lot of play on this side of the industry that we can do business here,” he said.

At present, Canada is also home to some of Asiatel’s clients.

Anand said that Asiatel’s listing is timely as Canada and the Philippines are currently negotiating a free trade agreement.

Asiatel’s listing is intended to support the company’s expansion in the North American market.

It will also fund the company’s next phase of growth as it moves from traditional outsourcing toward higher-value knowledge process outsourcing including engineering support, environmental, social and governance compliance, accounting, software as a service deployment and artificial intelligence-assisted service delivery.

Anand said that the company also plans to expand its presence in the Philippines by adding 250 seats in the next two years.

“We would be flexible in expanding in the north and south of Metro Manila,” he said.

At present, Asiatel has two facilities in Pasig.

Proceeds from the listing will also support the firm’s acquisitions.

“We want to look at companies that are complementary. When I say complementary, it could be a skill that we don’t do,” Anand said.

He said that the company is open to acquisitions within the Philippines, as well as in Southeast Asia, East Europe and even South America.

“This listing gives us a public vehicle to grow the business the way we always have, without leverage and with a clear plan for where the next stage of growth comes from,” he said.

Founded in 2006 in Metro Manila, Asiatel has over 500 employees in the Philippines and serves clients across eight countries.