Ayala sells stake in BPO firm

Conglomerate Ayala Corp. has sold its 82.5 percent stake in California-based business process outsourcing firm IQ BackOffice Holdings Ltd. (IQB) to its management team.

The stake in IQB was unloaded by Ayala’s wholly owned subsidiary LiveIt Investments Ltd.  IQB management will own 100 percent of the firm after the transaction, Ayala told the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday.

IQB is engaged in finance and accounting outsourcing as well as human resource outsourcing (HRO).

The transaction covers only IQB’s finance and accounting outsourcing operations.  “LiveIt will retain the HRO business, which supports many of the Ayala group companies and is considered a strategic asset,” the disclosure said.

IQB has operations in the United States, India, Mauritius and the Philippines.

This deal continues the rationalization of Ayala’s interest in the BPO industry.  In 2014, the Ayala group also sold its call center business under Stream Global Services Inc. to Convergys Corp.

While Ayala is paring its stake in the BPO industry, the conglomerate is making a bigger bet on Philippine human capital with the rollout of a chain of for-profit schools that address skills gap in the local and international labor market.

The group has teamed up with British education firm Pearson to put up schools under the brand Affordable Private Education Center (Apec). The Ayala group owns 60 percent of Apec while Pearson controls 40 percent.

Apec focuses on providing education to Grades 7 to 12. For senior high school (Grades 11 and 12), it offers “LINC” or “Learning with Industry Collaboration” which has three unique features: Mastery of English, technology immersion and connection with employer partners.