WNS looking at acquisitions of $5-20 million, says CEO

Business process outsourcing (BPO) company WNS Holdings says the industry should learn from countries such as the Philippines to grow expertise.

The Government should also help generate capabilities for youngsters to choose BPO as a career. WNS, which serves clients globally in insurance, travel, logistics and shipping, would look at acquisitions of $5-20 million this year.

The company in June acquired Fusion Outsourcing Services in South Africa that has 1,500 people for $15.5 million. The acquisition is projected to add around $10 million to its revenue this fiscal. In an interview with Business Line , Chief Executive Officer Keshav Murugesh shares more insights. Excerpts:

Does the industry see any threat from the Philippines?

The biggest thing that the Philippines has done exceedingly well, and we should learn from them, is the fact that they have escalated BPO jobs and roles as a career of choice to youngsters. That is the top career choice in that country. That is the opportunity that India had at some point but somehow we lost the ability to focus messaging around that. Therefore, that is something we need to correct. However, India outstrips any country by far. Its knowledge of English is excellent. People have lost sight of the fact that India has moved away from just voice to many areas as well, but continues to invest in voice as well. Therefore, only if you escalate these issues in a national-level programme – both government as well the industry bodies sit together and then decide what kind of graduates you want in the industry.

How do you promote this industry then?

We have to run different programmes with specific sub-groups and communication programmes – myth-busting exercises about this industry, to tell people that it is not an industry that works only at night and parties. It is an industry with growth prospects and safe careers for youngsters because the scale is huge.

What kind of support do you see from the Government as the Sunset clause (tax rebate on SEZs) was lifted last year?

We will involve more people in the Government. At the same time, Government should also provide some of the tax benefits that are required for the industry, especially for going into the tier-II and III locations. Training of those people and infrastructure requires a lot of investment.

What expansion plan does WNS have?

This quarter, we have created three new centres -- one was the South Africa acquisition, new onshore centre in South Carolina and one in Poland. We continue to invest around the world. We have focused investment even in downturn around end-to-end vertical model along with technology in BPO offerings as well as the client partner model. We are expanding our global footprint and enhancing scale capability across the globe.

In spite of the fact that it is a difficult market and even the foreign exchange worked against us, we were able to increase the overall guidance for the company. It is a tough market to be in this point in time, but we are confident about our model.

What verticals do you see as new opportunities?

Our emerging verticals are healthcare, retail, shipping and logistics. As for horizontals, we have been seeing growth in finance and accounting, and analytics. A lot of these are quite de-risked from some of the sectors such as insurance and telecom.

What is your investment plans for this year?

Our capex for this year alone is $20 million – much of this will be in special economic zones. We are also constantly investing in domain experts to bring them into the company, such as accounting, analytics, customer service and technology transformation. Other than that investments are in sales and marketing for expanding our global footprint.

Any hiring plans?

We have close to 26,000 people. We do not have specific targets for hiring but we have been hiring in all regions and that will continue.

Any merger or acquisition?

We are focused on any technology-enabled platform, which enhances each of our capabilities. We are not looking at large acquisitions, but small ones between $5 million and $20 million that would create technology capability for the company globally.

> ronendrasingh.s@thehindu.co.in