News

Ardian has agreed to acquire Berlin-based Competence Call Center, a business process outsourcing service provider. The seller is Silverfleet Capital. No financial terms were disclosed. William Blair, Roland Berger, Deloitte, Kirkland & Ellis and KPMG advised Silverfleet Capital on the transaction.

PRESS RELEASE

Silverfleet Capital, the Pan-European private equity firm that specialises in buy-to-build, has agreed the sale of Competence Call Center (“CCC” or the “company”), one of Europe’s leading business process outsourcing (BPO) service providers to funds managed by Ardian. Completion is subject to regulatory approval and the terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in Vienna, Austria in 1998 and headquartered in Berlin, CCC has grown to become the market leader in the DACH region, operating from 18 locations across eight countries and employing over 5,500 staff. The company provides outsourced customer care and BPO services in 28 languages, offering its clients a highly flexible combination of on-shore and near-shore solutions. Clients include leading, high-growth B2C and social media companies as well as major telecommunications providers and travel businesses. CCC’s core competencies are calls, digital services (social media, live chat) as well as written communication (mail/fax/letter correspondence).

Silverfleet invested in CCC in December 2013 having identified the potential to build a leading BPO service provider in German-speaking Europe and to capitalise on the continuing trend to outsource customer care activities to specialised providers. Since then, CCC has followed an ambitious growth strategy, which has seen the company strengthen its pan-European footprint by opening in eight new locations across Germany, Poland, Romania, Switzerland and Turkey.

CCC’s focus on offering high value, innovative services has been another major driver of growth. The company’s ongoing shift to providing bespoke BPO services to its clients has translated into significant new customer wins and enhanced CCC’s customer industry diversification.

Joachim Braun, Partner at Silverfleet Capital with responsibility for Silverfleet’s operations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria (“DACH”) commented: “We are delighted with the development of CCC over the last four years. I am pleased that we were able to assist management in successfully executing their growth plan of expanding the footprint of locations, winning new customers and offering a wider range of services. The company is now one of the fastest growing BPO service providers in Europe.”

Christian Legat, Chief Executive Officer of CCC said: “I would like to thank Silverfleet for their support over the past four years. With their help and expertise, we have overcome challenges, seized opportunities and expanded CCC’s capabilities across Europe to deliver an industry-leading standard of customer care for our clients. Our continued independence will ensure these standards of service are maintained going forward.”

Silverfleet Capital has a longstanding track record of investing in DACH headquartered businesses.

The most recent investment made by the firm (October 2017) was in Pumpenfabrik Wangen GmbH, a leading designer and manufacturer of high quality progressing cavity and twin-screw pumps based in Wangen im Allgäu, Germany. The sale of CCC marks yet another successful exit for Silverfleet in the DACH region.

Silverfleet Capital was advised by William Blair, Roland Berger, Deloitte, Kirkland & Ellis and KPMG.