CONGLOMERATE Ayala Corp. has unloaded its 58.71 percent stake in Integreon Inc., a leading global provider of legal support, research and business services, further reducing its interest in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday, Ayala said its wholly-owned subsidiary LiveIt Investments Ltd. had divested the interest in Integreon, a British Virgin Island (BVI) business company. The divestment will be through a business combination transaction with another BVI business company, Anchorage Merger Sub Ltd.,
Anchorage is owned by IGL Services Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary of certain private equity funds managed by NewQuest Capital Partners, Asia’s leading private equity platform for secondary transactions.
As a result of the business combination, LiveIt exercised its right to exchange all of its shares of stock in Integreon for consideration. In this merger, Integreon is the surviving entity.
Integreon is a leading global provider of legal support, research and business services to law firms, financial institutions and corporations. It is engaged in higher valued BPO business, also known as knowledge process outsourcing.
LiveIt, on the other hand, will retain other BPO investments such as in HRMall and AffinityX.
HRMall is seen providing strategic value for the Ayala Group’s HR (human resources) requirements while AffinityX is a global leader in advertising and marketing production services.
Ayala said both continued to achieve meaningful growth and profitability.
In the case of AffinityX, an acquisition in the digital space will be considered to accelerate growth as well as deepen capabilities.
In 2014, LiveIt also sold its stake in Stream Global Services Inc. to US-based Convergys Corp., in a deal that created the world’s second largest customer management services provider.