Dimension grabs top Canadian BPO
DIMENSION Data announced yesterday that it had acquired 100 percent of Millennium 1 Solutions, one of Canada’s fastest-growing business process outsourcing (BPO) solution providers, for an undisclosed amount.
Dimension Data acquired Millennium through its subsidiary Merchants from the Gores Group.
Millennium provides contact centre, credit card, and back office and administration services to Canadian organisations primarily in the financial services, insurance, and retail sectors.
Dimension Data said a new Merchants Group holding company would be formed, incorporating Merchants and Millennium.
Joe Manuele, Dimension Data’s group executive, CX and Digital Workplace practice, said Millennium’s capabilities and vertical expertise, particularly in credit card and financial services, would be a welcome addition to complement Merchants’ offerings.
He added that Dimension Data’s strategic vision for the Merchants Group was to become a truly digital outsourcer with global capability.
Merchants is part of Dimension Data’s CX and Digital Workplace practice, and is one of South Africa’s leading customer management outsourcing solution providers that designs, builds, and operates contact centres across the globe.
Millennium chief executive Tom Band said they were happy to join Merchants and the wider Dimension Data and NTT Group.
“The acquisition accelerates our vision to expand into new geographies and verticals, and rapidly enhances our solution set for our current and future clients. Both Merchants and Millennium share a commitment to enabling our clients’ premium brands and a bias for execution,” Band said.
The group said Band would remain in his current position as chief executive of the Millennium business in Canada, and Merchants’ current managing director, George Todd, has been appointed chief executive of the expanded Merchants Group.
The company said it would appoint a new managing director for Merchants.
Todd said the skills and expertise of the combined businesses would accelerate Merchants’ global expansion. “In Millennium, we have a partner that shares our focus on delivering the highest quality outcomes for our clients,” he said.
Millennium will add 2 131 permanent employees to the Merchants’ business, bringing to 7 600 the total number of people across both companies.
“Together, our combined offerings and expanded geographic footprint will fast-track growth in our current territories, and over time, globally,” Todd added.
Sheila McGee-Smith, a founder and principal analyst at McGee-Smith Analytics, said with the acquisition of Millennium and the creation of a new, even more global Merchants Group, Dimension Data was creating a next-generation BPO partner that will be an important ingredient in helping businesses not only meet but exceed customer expectations for digital, personalised interactions.