040307: IPVG is in search of P1B for call-center business

IP-CONTACT Center Outsourcing Inc. president and chief operating officer Eric Paragas, vice president for regional development of contact center business Ken Ho and IPVG Corp. chief executive officer Enrique Gonzalez share a light moment after a press briefing on IPVG-IPCCO cooperation with Hong Kong’s PCCW Teleservices Ltd. on the design, construction and management of contact center services in the Philippines. The briefing was held at a hotel in Makati City. NONIE REYES

IPVG is in search of P1B for call-center business

By Honey Madrilejos-Reyes

Reporter

LISTED software and Web-content provider IPVG Corp. is raising at least P1 billion to fund a contact center business it is pursuing for Hong Kong-based PCCW Teleservices Ltd. In a press briefing Monday, IPVG chief executive officer Enrique Y. Gonzalez said the company is raising P500 million from the additional sale of primary shares to domestic investors by the second semester. Another P500 million would be generated from the debt market after the additional offering. The proceeds would fund the building of contact center facilities consisting of 3,000 to 5,000 seats over the next three to four years. The call center is anchored on a recent agreement with PCCW Teleservices, a unit of PCCW Ltd. Under the agreement, IPVG will provide a call center that will cater to the needs of PCCW Teleservices to service clients in Asia, North America and Europe. IP-Contact Center Outsourcing Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of IPVG, will provide English-language requirements of PCCW Teleservices clients. This form of cooperation, in effect, establishes the first PCCW Teleservices branded and certified contact center in the Philippines. IP-Contact Center will use the brand, system and technology of PCCW Teleservices in lieu of licensing fees. The IPVG unit will also shoulder the investments for constructing contact center facilities in the country. “Basically, our target is to put in place 3,000 to 5,000 seats in the next three to four years,” Gonzalez said. IP-Contact Center, according to Gonzalez, would need a total of $30 million to $40 million for the undertaking. Gonzalez said they could tap the equities market again next year to address the remaining capital need to cover their business plan. “Right now we are building up the infrastructure to handle 1,000 seats this year but not all would be utilized,” Gonzalez said. “Out of that number maybe we can only use 500 to 600. We expect to become bigger starting 2008.” IP-Contact Center chief executive officer Eric Paragas said they expect to serve multinational clients from the airline, banking and finance and hotel industries. The services shall consist of customer front office and teleservices to handle the design, construction and maintenance of contact centers. IP-Contact Center handles the IPVG group’s customer service requirements out of its primary site in the RCBC Plaza Headquarters. It is in the process of building a purpose-built facility to fill the needs of international clients. PCCW Teleservices is a leading provider of customer contact management and customer relationship management services and solutions in Asia. It has been providing outsourcing services in Hong Kong, Greater China and Taiwan for more than 10 years. Meanwhile, apart from BPO, IPVG is also engaged in information technology and telecommunications and on-line games. (With reporting by Bloomberg)

 

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