SAO PAULO, June 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A.
(NYSE: ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship
management and business process outsourcing solutions (CRM BPO) in
Latin America, and one of the
three top providers worldwide, today announced the completion of
its acquisition of Interfile. A definitive agreement to acquire the
company was announced in March 2017.
"We are excited to complete the acquisition of Interfile, which
strengthens our capabilities and positions Atento as the leading
provider of credit origination BPO solutions in Brazil and in the Latin America market. Through this transaction
we are doubling our market share in the USD
1 Billion Latam credit origination BPO market to
approximately 10%. This acquisition allows us now to provide a
fully integrated BPO platform to deliver end-to-end solutions for
the Financial Services sector," stated Alejandro Reynal, Atento's Chief Executive
Officer.
"This transaction is evidence of our progress against our
strategic growth initiatives, which include the consolidation of
our leadership position in core voice services, expansion into
higher value-add solutions, and accelerated growth in digital
services," added Mr. Reynal.
Mauricio Montilha, Atento´s Chief Financial Officer, added, "Our
long-term strategy to create value is to diversify our revenue base
and selectively deploy capital to where its value is the highest.
Our acquisition of a majority stake in Interfile is an excellent
example of this strategy – reflecting our disciplined capital
allocation and our pursuit of selective growth opportunities to
accelerate our transformation into a BPO company. We will continue
to be opportunistic and evaluate opportunities for capital
deployment including further accretive investments and accelerated
pay down of high cost debt."
The Company remains confident in its full-year outlook, in
constant currency, for revenue growth between 1% and 5% and
adjusted EBITDA margin between 11% and 12%, as recent transactions
are expected to contribute to revenue growth.
Founded in 1991, Interfile is a leading provider of BPO services
and solutions for the banking and financial services sector in
Brazil. Interfile is a benchmark
in the BPO market in Brazil, and
provides services and solutions, including credit origination, to a
great majority of blue-chip brands operating in the financial
sector. It has more than 1,700 employees, 2 BPO services centers,
28 operations offices and more than 1,400 workstations, offering
great proximity and efficiency to clients across Brazil.
About Atento
Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management
and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top three
providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading
provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry
out their activities in the United
States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business
model in 13 countries where it employs more than 150,000 people.
Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of
CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are
mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as
telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail
and public administrations, among others. Atento´s shares trade
under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In
2016, Atento was named one of the World´s 25 Best Multinational
Workplaces by Great Place to Work® for a third consecutive year.
For more information visit www.atento.com
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be
identified by the use of words such as "may," "should," "expects,"
"plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts,"
"intends," "continue" or similar terminology. These statements
reflect only Atento's current expectations and are not guarantees
of future performance or results. These statements are subject to
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to,
competition in Atento's highly competitive industries; increases in
the cost of voice and data services or significant interruptions in
these services; Atento's ability to keep pace with its clients'
needs for rapid technological change and systems availability; the
continued deployment and adoption of emerging technologies; the
loss, financial difficulties or bankruptcy of any key clients; the
effects of global economic trends on the businesses of Atento's
clients; the non-exclusive nature of Atento's client contracts and
the absence of revenue commitments; security and privacy breaches
of the systems Atento uses to protect personal data; the cost of
pending and future litigation; the cost of defending Atento against
intellectual property infringement claims; extensive regulation
affecting many of Atento's businesses; Atento's ability to protect
its proprietary information or technology; service interruptions to
Atento's data and operation centers; Atento's ability to retain key
personnel and attract a sufficient number of qualified employees;
increases in labor costs and turnover rates; the political,
economic and other conditions in the countries where Atento
operates; changes in foreign exchange rates; Atento's ability to
complete future acquisitions and integrate or achieve the
objectives of its recent and future acquisitions; future
impairments of our substantial goodwill, intangible assets, or
other long-lived assets; and Atento's ability to recover consumer
receivables on behalf of its clients. In addition, Atento is
subject to risks related to its level of indebtedness. Such risks
include Atento's ability to generate sufficient cash to service its
indebtedness and fund its other liquidity needs; Atento's ability
to comply with covenants contained in its debt instruments; the
ability to obtain additional financing; the incurrence of
significant additional indebtedness by Atento and its subsidiaries;
and the ability of Atento's lenders to fulfill their lending
commitments. Atento is also subject to other risk factors described
in documents filed by the company with the United States Securities
and Exchange Commission.
These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on
which the statements were made. Atento undertakes no obligation to
update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether
as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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SOURCE Atento S.A.