French Call Center Giant Acquires Debt Collector AllianceOne

The American subsidiary of one of the largest global CRM providers and contact center operators announced today the acquisition of major ARM player AllianceOne.

Utah-based Teleperformance USA, the stateside unit of French CRM provider and contact center operator Teleperformance, will wholly acquire Exton, Pa.-based collection agency AllianceOne in the deal. Terms of the transaction were not announced.

The acquisition gives Teleperformance a strong foothold in the accounts receivables management services sector in North America, a sector in which the company had limited operations. Teleperformance focuses on outbound and inbound customer acquisition and CRM services for global clients, while its ARM operation primarily serves the Latin American market.

AllianceOne, with more than 2,000 employees in 12 locations throughout the U.S., Canada, and Jamaica, provides debt collection work for a wide range of clients. The company had revenues of more than $115 million in 2006, according to a press release today.

As part of the deal, Tim Casey, chief operating officer of Teleperformance USA, was named CEO of AllianceOne.

Daniel Julien, chairman of the supervisory board of Teleperformance, said in a press release, “Our group decided to make a strategic move into the debt collection business a couple of years ago, and we now provide Accounts Receivable Management services to our clients in several European countries as well as in Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. The acquisition of Alliance One is a significant step as it gives us the ability to provide Accounts Receivable Management services in the US, which is the largest market in the world.”

Strategic advisory firm Kaulkin Ginsberg Co. advised Teleperformance in the deal. Mike Ginsberg, CEO of Bethesda, Md.-based Kaulkin, said, “This acquisition gives Teleperformance a strong foothold in the ARM market and gives AllianceOne access to Teleperformance’s strong IT and multi-national call center infrastructure.”

Dominic Dato, current CEO of Teleperformance USA, commented, “We expect to leverage AllianceOne’s ARM expertise and quality management team with Teleperformance USA’s powerful integrated domestic, near shore, offshore, home agents and IVR suite of services.”

Teleperformance is one of the largest global contact center operators, with more than 70,000 employees in 275 locations in 43 countries. The company’s stock is traded publicly on the Euronext Paris exchange (FR: 51807). It has a market capitalization of $2.2 billion. The American unit, Teleperformance USA, counts approximately 12,000 employees in 34 call centers across the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Latin America, and in India and the Philippines.