Essar's Avaya acquisition raises concern in BPO sector
By siliconindia   |   Monday, 21 June 2010, 22:41 IST   |    1 Comments
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Essar's Avaya acquisition raises concern in BPO sector
Mumbai: Essar Group's BPO unit Aegis has acquired 59 percent stake of AGC Networks, the BSE-listed Indian arm of US-based enterprise networking solutions firm Avaya for $44.5 million. Apart from acquiring the Indian arm, Aegis will also purchase the Australian and New Zealand operations of the firm. Aegis is one of the largest BPOs in India with about 40,000 employees. "The acquisition will help Aegis expand its services portfolio," said Aegis' Chief Executive Officer Aparup Sengupta This acquisition has however led to tempestuous sentiments amid back office firms that are AGC's customers in India. It has sent a panic alarm amongst these firms who are in constant fear of leaking sensitive information to a competitor. Concerns are also raised regarding the quality of service going down in the absence of the parent company, Avaya. "We have communicated our concerns to Avaya India and they have said they will handle the pre-sales and also offer similar pricing to all players," said a BPO Executive. On its part, Avaya made it known that it was meeting large and medium customers on a one-on-one basis. "Wherever there is a disruption vis-a-vis AGC, we will work together to resolve it. AGC is an independent listed entity. But beyond that customers can also work with other business partners or reach out to us," said Jangoo Dalal, MD of Avaya India. This will be Aegis' second possession in this fiscal year,with the first one coming in May when it took over the Texas-based customer service centre operation of US financial services firm Sallie Mae.

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