EXL Teams up With Carvajal and Expands into Latin America

Global outsourcing firm EXL Services has expanded into Latin America by acquiring a majority stake in the BPO unit of Colombian technology services firm Carvajal Tecnologia y Servicios.

The two companies have also announced plans to work together with the launch of their Latin American headquarters in the Colombian city of Cali.

The joint venture adds about 500 employees to CT&S’ operations in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador and Panama. According to the Spanish-language press, the BPO firms are set to generate between 1,500 and 2,000 jobs in Latin American countries over the next few years.

As per the agreement, the firms will henceforth focus on providing finance and accounting and clinical services in addition to their traditional customer-care services. New York City-based EXL said it had acquired a 51% stake in CT&S’ F&A services division.

The joint venture will oversee the delivery of EXL’s Spanish-language services for its clients in North America and Europe, besides providing finance & accounting outsourcing work for CT&S’s Latin America-based clients.

Earlier in July, EXL acquired Blue Slate Solutions, a BPO start-up specializes in transforming operations through business process optimization, data integration and analytics. Though headquartered in the United States, EXL’s BPO services are largely provided from its delivery centers in India.

EXL says its technology expertise complements with Carvajal’s local knowledge and brand image.

“EXL’s clients serve a rapidly growing Hispanic customer base that requires Spanish language-based services, and we determined that partnering with a well-established and respected company is the best way to build EXL’s ability to cater to this need,” said Rohit Kapoor, Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, EXL.

The U.S. firm says it is talks with clients about including Spanish language services. “We have high expectations from the growth opportunities in this dynamic market,” Kapoor added.

“EXL’s business process experts and Business EXLerator Framework, which combine operations management expertise, sophisticated analytics and technology tools, will add tremendous value to what CT&S has already established, and the combination will be a formidable player in the market,” said Carlos Manuel Perez, President of Carvajal Tecnologia y Servicios.