Everstone partners with Sunrise BPO to buy CRM solution provider C3

Everstone Group, along with Sunrise BPO, has signed a definitive agreement to buy US-based C3 (Customer Contact Channels), a global CRM solutions provider. While the company did not disclose the value, industry sources estimated the deal value around $150 million and a 100 per cent acquisition.

Sellers include Stone Point Capital and other management representatives. It may be noted, Stephen Friedman, former Goldman Sachs chairman is the chairman of C3.

The investment will be done via Everise Services in Singapore, a company held by Everstone. The private equity fund has been focussing mainly on India and south east Asia.

The new chief executive of Everise will be Sudhir Agarwal, the founder of Sunrise BPO. Singapore-based Sunrise BPO, will take the leading role in operating the business, in addition to bringing capital.

Everstone will be the largest financial investor and it will take the lead in C3’s India operational build-out to grow the company, said the firm. Founded in 2010, C3 is headquartered in Plantation, Florida, United States. C3 has expansive operations in the Philippines and Guatemala and reported revenue CAGR of more than 60 per cent over the past six years.

This will be Everstone’s third investment through its latest private equity fund, ECP III, which raised $730 million last year, and the second investment into the ITES-enabled space after it acquired Servion Global Solutions, a leading Customer Engagement Management firm, in 2014.

The company has a list of more than 20 clients in healthcare, telecommunications and media, logistics, retail, travel and hospitality and financial services. C3 also provides training and consulting in the customer management solutions space, as well as sales, performance optimisation, reputation management and complete customer lifecycle management via traditional, web, and emerging communication channels.

C3 provides multi-lingual support to clients and has seven operating centers across the US, the Philippines and Guatemala, with nearly 8,000 employees. Everise plans to make C3 into a $500-plus million revenue company in the next five years, from nearly $200 million currently.

As part of this strategy, Sunrise BPO, will take the leading role in operating the business, in addition to bringing capital. Everstone will be the largest financial investor and it will take the lead in C3’s India operational build-out to grow the company.

“We are excited to partner with Sunrise in the acquisition of this marquee business. I look forward to leveraging our deep understanding of the sector and strong presence in India to further build C3’s global business,” said Sameer Sain, co-Founder and managing partner of the Everstone Group. “It’s a privilege to help lead a company like C3 that has made a significant impact on the outsourced CRM solutions space in such a short time” said Sudhir Agarwal.

“Sunrise BPO not only brings capital, along with our key partner Everstone, but we also bring in the capability to rapidly scale C3’s business in the US and Asia and greatly improve customer experience, working closely with all of C3’s amazingly skilled employees and agents,” Agarwal added. Everise will acquire 100 per cent of C3. The current President and chief operating officer of C3, Rick Ferry, along with C3’s experienced leadership team, will continue as part of the leadership in his new role as CEO-USA. “The team and I are committed and excited about this move and will work with Everise to grow the business globally,” Ferry said.

Prateek Dhawan, managing director, private equity, Everstone Group will join the Everise board. “Taking the C3 platform and enhancing its delivery model using analytics and other technology tools is a huge opportunity,” said Dhawan.