The $2.2B acquisition places Sitel Group firmly in the top 3 position of global CX leaders with greater scale, larger global footprint and enhanced digital expertise
Chuck Sykes has left the organization effective today
MIAMI — September 2, 2021 — In accordance with the announcement made on June 18, 2021, Sitel Group®, one of the largest global providers of customer experience (CX) products and solutions, is pleased to announce the completed acquisition of Sykes Enterprises, Inc. (SYKES). A subsidiary of Sitel Group has acquired all outstanding shares of SYKES common stock in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $2.2 billion, delisting the formerly publicly traded company from Nasdaq.
Sitel Group, the newly combined company, employs 160,000 employees across locations in 40 countries, serving 700+ customers in 50+ languages. This merger positions the company to reach a revenue of approximately $4.3 billion in 2021 through an integrated and diverse set of products and solutions built around digital-first experiences powered by the human touch. With increased capacity, Sitel Group offers its customers a diversified delivery mix with an expanded geographic footprint, providing more variety for their work-at-home, onshore, nearshore and offshore needs.
“I am pleased to announce that Sitel Group has completed the acquisition of SYKES. This combination significantly widens our global reach and diversifies our product and service offerings to benefit our customers,” said Laurent Uberti, President, CEO & Co-Founder, Sitel Group. “We have maintained our entrepreneurial spirit and dynamism from day one, and I am confident that as we continue to grow, we will remain true to our founding ethos – providing exceptional customer service while maintaining the human touch in everything we do, even as we take further advantage of technological innovation.”
Uberti founded what is now Sitel Group in France more than 25 years ago with longtime business partner, Olivier Camino. Camino currently serves as Global COO and leads Sitel Group alongside Uberti.
Chuck Sykes, President & CEO of SYKES since August 2004, has left the organization effective today. During his 16 years of leadership, he helped SYKES become a leading, global digital-marketing and customer-care outsourcer.
“Olivier and I appreciate Chuck’s leadership and have tremendous respect for the business he and his family founded more than 40 years ago,” said Uberti. “We look forward to finalizing the integration process and bringing our teams together to enable deeper brand connections for the customers we support.”
The two organizations both bring a passion for delivering best-in-class customer experiences and enhancing the employee experience by living their people-centric values.
“Post-COVID-19, our industry is faced with vast digital disruption and this acquisition puts Sitel Group in a position to deliver rapid and tangible customer benefits built around digital expertise. By leveraging the power of EXP+™, our Enterprise Experience Platform, with the digital transformation capabilities SYKES brings, our customers can harness this expertise in digital, social media and robotic process automation (RPA) to deliver best-in-class experiences for their customers,” said Olivier Camino, Global COO & Co-Founder, Sitel Group. “Furthermore, we believe the employee experience is the customer experience and we’re excited about continuing our story together and, with the help of our talented team around the world, bringing our Sitel® MAX methodology to life.”
This acquisition gives customers of both organizations access to new products and capabilities. The Sykes Enterprises, Inc. family, including SYKES Digital Services and Clearlink, helps customers create the best possible digital CX at each stage in the customer journey, which is a goal of Sitel Group as it moves into this next chapter. Additionally, these capabilities will help drive differentiation and competitive advantage, capitalizing on the trend toward vendor consolidation; expanded service offerings that can scale across the global markets, verticals and client portfolios; broadening the addressable market opportunity as it enables a greater share of the CX management value chain; and creating more entry points to capture new customers.
With a worldwide presence on every continent, the redesigned Sitel Group has elevated its influence as a top 3 global CX leader, establishing a gap in excess of $2 billion between them and second-tier players in the industry. The added strength of Sykes Enterprises, Inc. effectively positions Sitel Group to offer the best digital products and solutions that ensure an extraordinary customer experience for customers today and tomorrow.
For information about Sitel Group, visit www.sitel.com.
About Sitel Group®
As one of the largest global providers of customer experience (CX) products and solutions, Sitel Group® empowers brands to build stronger relationships with their customers by creating meaningful connections that boost brand value. Inspired by each brands’ unique vision and goals, we ask “what if?” applying our expertise to create innovative solutions that reduce customer effort.
With 160,000 people around the globe – working from home or from one of our CX hubs – we securely connect best-loved brands with their customers over 8 million times every day in 50+ languages. Whether digital or voice-based, our solutions deliver a competitive edge across all customer touchpoints. Our award-winning culture is built on 40+ years of industry-leading experience and commitment to improving the employee experience.
EXP+™ from Sitel Group is a flexible solution with complete cloud capability, designed to simplify the delivery of end-to-end CX services, while boosting efficiency, effectiveness and customer satisfaction. EXP+ creates a robust ecosystem by harnessing the power of four connected product families. Learn more at www.sitel.com and connect with us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.