Acquisition supports evolution of TELUS
International’s digital transformation strategy
Enhances TELUS International’s ability to
support leading global technology brands developing the next
generation of artificial intelligence (AI)
Today, TELUS International, a digital customer experience (CX)
innovator that designs, builds and delivers next-generation
solutions for global and disruptive brands, announced that it has
entered into an agreement to acquire Lionbridge AI, a
market-leading global provider of crowd-based training data and
annotation platform solutions used in the development of AI
algorithms to power machine learning. The acquisition will be at a
purchase price of approximately US$935 million (approximately C$1.2
billion), subject to customary closing adjustments, and is expected
to close on December 31, 2020. A press release issued by TELUS
Corporation provides additional details regarding the proposed
acquisition.
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“We are excited to be welcoming the entire Lionbridge AI team to
our TELUS International family. The addition of its
industry-leading data annotation capabilities to our suite of
next-generation digital solutions will support the expansion of our
global service offerings and our penetration into the fast-growing
new economy services market as we continue to advance our digital
transformation strategy,” said Jeff Puritt, President and CEO of
TELUS International. “As a unified team and company, we will be
positioned to meet the end-to-end needs of today’s tech
hyperscalers and industry disruptors that are building the next
generation of machine learning and AI systems to develop smarter
products and services, and deliver exceptional customer
experiences.”
As a division of Lionbridge Technologies, Inc. - a
privately-held company with more than 20 years of industry
experience - Lionbridge AI is one of only two globally-scaled,
managed training data and data annotation services providers in the
world. Data annotation is the essential process of labeling data to
make it usable for AI systems, and Lionbridge AI annotates data in
text, images, videos, and audio in more than 300 languages and
dialects for some of the world’s largest technology companies in
social media, search, retail and mobile. Headquartered in Waltham,
Massachusetts, Lionbridge AI has more than 750 employees working
from countries around the world, including in the U.S., Ireland,
Finland, India, UK, Japan, Denmark, Costa Rica and South Korea.
Lionbridge AI has also developed a proprietary data annotation
platform that is used in combination with a crowdsourced community
of more than one million professional annotators, qualified
linguists and in-country language speakers across six continents.
There are between 30,000-50,000 members of this advanced community
of global crowd contributors deployed at any one point in time.
“We are thrilled to be joining the TELUS International team as
we share a like-minded commitment to innovating for our clients and
a focus on our people whom we consider to be unique experts in our
industry and a sustainable source of competitive advantage,” said
Ed Jay, President of Lionbridge AI. “We are looking forward to
working together with TELUS International to continue delivering
the most valuable AI training data and platform for our clients,
and to build upon the scale and momentum we have achieved through
our crowd of contributors spanning diverse languages, cultures and
geographies.”
“Given the “new-normal” post-COVID, with many experts expecting
digitization efforts to further accelerate, we believe the market
demand for data annotation services to support this increased
investment in AI and machine learning will have similarly strong
tailwinds,” continued Puritt. “Today’s announcement with Lionbridge
AI is a further testament to TELUS International’s commitment to
continually elevate the breadth and scope of the leading-edge
solutions we provide in order to meet the evolving needs of the
valued brands we partner with today and into the future.”
About TELUS International
TELUS International designs, builds and delivers next-generation
digital solutions to enhance the customer experience (CX) for
global and disruptive brands. The company’s services support the
full lifecycle of its clients’ digital transformation journeys and
enable them to more quickly embrace next-generation digital
technologies to deliver better business outcomes. TELUS
International’s integrated solutions and capabilities span digital
strategy, innovation, consulting and design, digital transformation
and IT lifecycle solutions, and omnichannel CX solutions that
include content moderation, trust and safety solutions and other
managed solutions. Fueling all stages of company growth, TELUS
International partners with some of the world’s most disruptive
brands across high growth industry verticals, including tech and
games, communications and media, eCommerce and fintech, healthcare,
and travel and hospitality. Learn more at:
telusinternational.com.
About TELUS
TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a dynamic, world-leading
communications and information technology company with $15 billion
in annual revenue and 15.4 million customer connections spanning
wireless, data, IP, voice, television, entertainment, video and
security. At TELUS, we leverage our world-leading technology’s
potential to enable remarkable human outcomes. Our long-standing
commitment to putting customers first fuels every aspect of our
business, making us a distinct leader in customer service
excellence and loyalty. TELUS Health is Canada’s largest healthcare
IT provider, and TELUS International delivers the most innovative
business process solutions to some of the world’s most established
brands.
Driven by our passionate social purpose to connect all Canadians
for good, our deeply meaningful and enduring philosophy to give
where we live has inspired our team members and retirees to
contribute more than $736 million and 1.4 million days of service
since 2000. This unprecedented generosity and unparalleled
volunteerism have made TELUS the most giving company in the
world.
For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com, follow
us @TELUSNews on Twitter and @Darren_Entwistle on Instagram.
About Baring Private Equity Asia
Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) is one of the largest and most
established private alternative investment firms in Asia, with
approximately US$21 billion of assets under management. The firm
manages a private equity investment program, sponsoring buyouts and
providing growth capital to companies for expansion or acquisitions
with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region, as well as
investing in companies globally that can benefit from further
expansion into the Asia Pacific region. BPEA also manages dedicated
funds focused on private real estate and private credit. The firm
has a 23-year history and 190+ employees located across offices in
Hong Kong, China, India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and the US.
BPEA currently has over 39 portfolio companies active in Asia with
a total of 230,000 employees and sales of approximately US$32
billion.
Forward-looking statements:
This news release contains statements about expected future
events, including statements relating to the planned acquisition of
Lionbridge AI by TELUS International, the expected timing of the
transaction, the expected benefits of the transaction and plans for
its integration. By their nature, forward-looking statements
require TELUS to make assumptions and predictions and are subject
to inherent risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that
the acquisition will be completed as expected or upon the terms and
conditions described in this news release, that required regulatory
approvals will be obtained, or that the expected financial results
or the expected benefits of the transaction will be realized. There
is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not
prove to be accurate. The forward-looking statements contained in
this news release describe our expectations at the date of this
news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such
date. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause
actual future events to differ materially from those expressed in
the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, this news release is
subject to the disclaimer and qualified by the assumptions,
qualifications and risk factors referred to in TELUS' 2020 third
quarter management’s discussion and analysis and 2019 annual
report, and in other TELUS public disclosure documents and filings
with securities commissions in Canada (on SEDAR at sedar.com) and
in the United States (on EDGAR at sec.gov). Except as required by
law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or
revise forward-looking statements.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201106005252/en/
TELUS International Media Relations Ali Wilson (604)
328-7093 Ali.Wilson@telusinternational.com
TELUS Media Relations Jacinthe Beaulieu (418) 318-6102
jacinthe.beaulieu@telus.com
TELUS Investor Relations Ian McMillan (604) 695-4539
ir@telus.com
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