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March 28, 2007 - Marlborough Stirling Canada today announces completion of a change of ownership of its parent company, Vertex.
Vertex, the UK’s leading outsourced customer management company and the UK’s second largest BPO provider [1] , has been acquired from United Utilities PLC by a consortium of three leading US investment firms - Oak Hill Capital Partners, GenNx360 Capital Partners and Knox Lawrence International.
Through the acquisition, Vertex now becomes a private company backed by investors. With this backing, Vertex aims to become a major player in the fast growing global BPO marketplace by utilizing its customer management skills, resources and technology. The company will continue to trade as Vertex Data Science Limited, “Vertex”, wholly owned by VTX Bidco Limited – a company established specifically for the purposes of the acquisition.
On sale completion, Tom Drury stood down as Vertex managing director; the investors’ nominee for CEO is Richard Graham, a Canadian executive with wide experience in shared services operations and financial institutions.
Richard Graham paid tribute to the work of Tom Drury saying: “Tom has made a massive contribution to the success of Vertex in the 11 years since it was established. Under his stewardship the company has grown from an in-house services provider to the UK’s second largest business outsourcer with a turnover in excess of £388m. His leadership has proved inspirational and through his expert guidance Vertex has been able to enter newly emerging BPO markets, which we intend Vertex to further capitalize on.”
Vertex, which was recently confirmed as the No 1 global provider of energy and utility outsourcing [2] operates contracts across four divisions; Utilities & Public sector, Private sector, Financial Services and Vertex North America, providing employment for 8,000 people across three continents.
Commenting on the acquisition, Richard Graham said: “The divestment from United Utilities provides an ideal opportunity for Vertex to build its own future. Oak Hill Capital, GenNx360 Capital Partners and Knox Lawrence International each have a proven track record of acquiring businesses and supporting their development. They wish to support Vertex in developing the company’s global BPO strategy.
“Meanwhile we fully intend to build on the success of Vertex, securing our future prosperity by improving efficiency, creating a competitive platform, developing our pipeline and investing in strategic growth. We can see tremendous opportunity to build on the skills, experience and processes that Vertex has in order to grow the business.”
According to industry analysts Ovum, the market for outsourcing in the UK remains buoyant, while in North America – a key growth area for Vertex, the outsourced utility market is expected to increase by 9% in growth over the next three years.
Vertex will now undergo a period of transition into new ownership under Richard Graham’s guidance.
[1] According to Ovum Holway BPO survey 2006
[2] Top 50 Best Managed Global outsourcing vendors black book report 2006
About Vertex
Vertex (www.vertex.co.uk) is a leading international provider of business process outsourcing and technology services. As the UK’s leading provider of innovative customer management and back office solutions, we understand how important high performance is to our clients. Operational and customer service excellence is what our clients expect, and our solutions deliver measurable results - that’s why we are the partner of choice for some of the UK’s leading brands in the commercial, financial services, utility and public sectors. The company has 8,000 employees across 3 continents - the UK, North America and India, and delivers global solutions and capabilities to a wide range of clients, 365 days a year.
Vertex is wholly owned by VTX Bidco Limited and backed by private investors. Marlborough Stirling Canada is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Vertex Financial Services.
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