Indian BPO Firm Acquires U.S. Collection Agency Account Solutions Group

Keeping up the frenzied pace of merger and acquisition activity in the accounts receivable management industry, Indian business process outsourcing firm ICICI OneSource Limited announced today the purchase of U.S.-based collection agency Account Solutions Group, LLC (ASG).

The deal marks the first time an Indian firm has acquired a U.S. collection agency.

ICICI OneSource is majority owned by Indian banking giant ICICI Group (NYSE: IBN) and is headquartered in Mumbai, India. ICICI OneSource offers call center outsourcing services such as inbound and outbound customer care and processing as well as back office services like transaction processing. The purchase of Amherst, NY-based ASG will allow ICICI OneSource to offer debt collection services to its broad list of clients. According to Ananda Mukerji, Managing Director & CEO of ICICI OneSource, with the addition of ASG, “we can now offer a full suite of collections capabilities: customer acquisition, billing, customer service and collections.”

ASG currently has call center operations in suburban Buffalo, NY and employs more than 500 people. Its revenues for the year ended December 31st 2003 came in at $25.14 million. The company specializes in third party debt collections and its clients include three of the Top 10 credit card issuers in the United States. The firm is also backed by a strong management team with more than 50 years of collective experience in the financial/banking industries.

The strength of management was one of the factors attracting ICICI OneSource to ASG. In fact, ASG co-founder and President and CEO, Tony Frisicaro, has been named as the head of global collection operations for ICICI OnceSource. The current management structure of ASG will also not be affected and all of ASG?s current employees will remain with the company. Additionally, both companies said that there are plans to expand operations in Western New York. Frisicaro stated, “ICICI OneSource’s client relationships with FTSE 100 and Fortune 500 companies will help us grow aggressively from this point on.”

Advisory firm Kaulkin Ginsberg Company initiated the transaction and advised the shareholders of Account Solutions Group while ICICI OneSource was advised by Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. Speaking on the unique nature of the deal, Kaulkin Ginsberg CEO Mike Ginsberg said, “The (collection) industry has certainly never seen a deal like this before, but it is indicative of the interest we have been seeing in U.S. debt collection agencies from parties outside of the industry and outside of the country.”