Corporate Financing Week - June 6, 2004

24/7 Customer, a Calif.-based call center company with its main operations in India, is looking to acquire companies that provide call center services in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada and the Philippines to expand its global footprint. Brian Reed, v.p., was hired in March to lead this effort and said the company is considering about 10 to 15 companies.

The provider of voice and email services is currently talking to a handful of middle market and bulge bracket investment banks. Houlihan Lokey is one of the banks under consideration, said Reed, but he declined to name any of the others.

24/7 Customer, which received a $22 million round of funding from Sequoia Capital Partners in 2003, will consider cash, stock or another round of venture funding to finance an acquisition. Reed declined to give more details. 24/7 Customer's revenues for the fiscal year ending in March was $30 million.

Reed said that the ideal acquisition candidate would have $10 to $50 million in revenue, a blue-chip client list, a history of at least five years and be based in a low-cost location. In addition, the customer base of the candidate should be compatible with 24/7 Customer. The company provides services for the financial services, technology and telecom industries, said Reed, adding that five of the top 10 credit card issuers in the country were its clients.

Following its first acquisition, 24/7 Customer hopes to buy a company every quarter.