Partners Group to acquire SPi Global, the leading global provider of specialized BPO services to research and education publishers Montag, 22. Mai 2017 - 06:01

Partners Group, the global private markets investment manager, has agreed to acquire SPi Global ("SPi" or "the Company"), a provider of outsourced services to education, science, technical and medical research publishers worldwide, on behalf of its clients. The Company is being acquired from CVC Capital Partners Asia III in a transaction that values SPi at USD 330 million.

Founded in 1980 and headquartered in Manila in the Philippines, SPi serves the top global education, technical and research publishers as well as business application customers. The Company provides a comprehensive set of specialized services and technology solutions related to the creation, enrichment and transformation of published content. These services span a publisher's entire value chain, from author support and content development, through copy editing and typesetting, to digitalization, database management and data analytics. SPi serves its clients in 14 languages through 12 delivery operations globally and employs more than 12,500 people.

Following the acquisition, Partners Group will work with SPi's management team, led by CEO Ratan Datta, on a number of value creation initiatives to expand the Company both organically and through select acquisitions. These will include the introduction of additional offerings to SPi's service catalogue and the expansion of the Company's business applications segment.

Ratan Datta, President and CEO of SPi Global, states: "After a period of dynamic growth under our prior owners, we are very happy to welcome Partners Group as our new business partner and look forward to working with the firm to further complement our global footprint as well as client service capabilities. With its prior exposure and strategic interest in the content and learning sectors, Partners Group's experience, global network and values make it the right partner to support our continued growth while maintaining the client-centric approach which has allowed us to become the leading provider in the content services market."

Following the transaction, three senior Partners Group executives will join the Board of Directors at SPi. They are Cyrus Driver, Managing Director, Private Equity Directs Asia, Christian Unger, Managing Director, Industry Value Creation, and Florian Marquis, Senior Vice President, Private Equity Directs Asia.

Cyrus Driver comments: "Through best-in-class delivery, technology-enabled efficiencies and global scale, SPi has become a strategic vendor to the largest global publishers. As the publishing world transforms and expands at a rapid pace, SPi has a very exciting opportunity to support its customers with an enhanced range of services and leading edge technology solutions. As the segment leader, SPi also has the opportunity to consolidate the industry and drive ever higher efficiencies for its customers. We very much look forward to working with Ratan and his impressive team to help SPi achieve its full potential."