Exhibit 99.1
News Release
news release
SYKES ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED ACQUIRES ARGENTINA BASED CUSTOMER
CONTACT MANAGEMENT PROVIDER
Accretive acquisition to build on the strength of Latin America delivery capability,
establish beachhead in new markets and strengthen portfolio of services
SYKES Enterprises, Incorporated
Corporate Headquarters:
400 North Ashley Drive
Tampa, FL USA 33602
1 · 800 · TO · SYKES
http://www.sykes.com
EMEA Operations:
599 Calder Road
Edinburgh EH11 4GA
Scotland
+44 (0) 131 458-6500
TAMPA, FL – July 5, 2006 - Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (
“SYKES”) (NASDAQ: SYKE), a global
leader in providing outsourced customer contact management solutions and services in the business
process outsourcing (BPO) arena, announced today that it has acquired Centro de Interaccion
Multimedia, S.A. (
“Apex”), an established and rapidly growing customer contact management solutions
and services provider headquartered in the City of Cordoba, Argentina.
Under the terms of the agreement, SYKES will pay Apex shareholders an aggregate sum, including
contingent consideration, of approximately $27 million, 80% of which will be paid in cash and 20%
in stock. Apex serves clients in Argentina, Mexico and the United States, with revenues of
approximately $20 million in 2005 and approximately $25 million for the trailing twelve-month
period ended
June 30, 2006. Apex has approximately 2,700 agent workstations providing Spanish and
English language support throughout three centers across Argentina. Client programs range from
in-bound customer care and help-desk/technical support to out-bound sales and cross selling within
the business-to-consumer and certain business-to-business segments for Internet Service Providers,
wireless carriers and credit card companies. With a high quality client base across the
communications and financial services verticals, the acquisition of Apex provides SYKES with a firm
presence in a growing market.
“This acquisition is very compelling on both the strategic and financial fronts. This accretive
acquisition complements our core business, extends our clients’ strategic outsourcing and
off-shoring options and is consistent with the acquisition strategy we have communicated to our
shareholders. In selecting Apex, SYKES gains access to ready-made capabilities. Apex, in turn,
will be able to leverage SYKES’ sales and marketing infrastructure to foster new client
relationships and open new markets across North America and Europe. Incorporated in December of
2002, Apex has grown rapidly as a result of its solid management team and culture, which will
remain in place as we build on our already-robust delivery model in Costa Rica and El Salvador,”
commented Chuck Sykes, President and Chief Executive Officer of Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated.
Marcelo Cid, Apex’s Chief Executive Officer, added, “We look forward to working with our new
colleagues at SYKES and going to market with enhanced customer contact management solution
capabilities that leverage each other’s resources. This transaction is an unbeatable value for all
of our clients.” Marcelo Cid will be reporting directly to James Hobby, Senior Vice President of
Global Operations at SYKES. And Humberto Sahade, Apex’s Chief Operating Officer, will be reporting
directly to Marcelo Cid.
The acquisition closed
July 3, 2006. The acquisition is expected to be slightly accretive to
full-year 2006 earnings per share. SYKES will update its full-year 2006 revenue and
earnings per share outlook as well as provide its third quarter outlook when it releases its second
quarter results after the market close on
August 7, 2006.
About Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated
SYKES is a global leader in providing customer contact management solutions and services in the
business process outsourcing (BPO) arena. SYKES provides an array of sophisticated customer
contact management solutions to Fortune 1000 companies around the world, primarily in the
communications, financial services, healthcare, technology and transportation and leisure
industries. SYKES specializes in providing flexible, high quality customer support outsourcing
solutions with an emphasis on inbound technical support and customer service. Headquartered in
Tampa, Florida, with customer contact management centers throughout the world, SYKES provides its
services through multiple communication channels encompassing phone, e-mail, web and chat.
Utilizing its integrated onshore/offshore global delivery model, SYKES serves its clients through
two geographic operating segments: the Americas (United States, Canada, Latin America and the Asia
Pacific region) and EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa). SYKES also provides various enterprise
support services in the Americas and fulfillment services in EMEA, which include multi-lingual
sales order processing, payment processing, inventory control, product delivery and product returns
handling. For additional information, please visit
www.sykes.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This
press release may contain
“forward-looking statements,” including SYKES’ estimates of future
business outlook, prospects or financial results, statements regarding SYKES’ objectives,
expectations, intentions, beliefs or strategies, or statements containing words such as
“believe,”
“estimate,” “project,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “anticipate,” “plans,” “seeks,” or similar
expressions. It is important to note that SYKES’ actual results could differ materially from those
in such forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements.
Among the important factors that could cause such actual results to differ materially are (i) the
ability to successfully integrate Apex’s operations and employees, (ii) the ability to deliver on
Apex’s potential earnings per share accretion, (iii) the ability to deliver on the future financial
and operating performance of the combined company, (iv) the timing of significant orders for SYKES’
products and services, (v) variations in the terms and the elements of services offered under
SYKES’ standardized
contract including those for future bundled service offerings, (vi) changes in
applicable accounting principles or interpretations of such principles, (vii) difficulties or
delays in implementing SYKES’ bundled service offerings, (viii) failure to achieve sales, marketing
and other objectives, (ix) construction delays of new or expansion of existing customer support
centers, (
x) delays in
the Company’s ability to develop new products and services and market
acceptance of new products and services, (xi) rapid technological change, (xii) loss or addition of
significant clients, (xiii) risks inherent in conducting business abroad, (xiv) currency
fluctuations, (xv) fluctuations in business conditions and the economy, (xvi) SYKES’ ability to
attract and retain key management personnel, (xvii) SYKES’ ability to continue the growth of its
support service revenues through additional technical and customer contact centers, (xviii) SYKES’
ability to further penetrate into vertically integrated markets, (xix) SYKES’ ability to expand its
global presence through strategic alliances and selective acquisitions, (xx) SYKES’ ability to
continue to establish a competitive advantage through sophisticated technological capabilities,
(xxi) the ultimate outcome of any lawsuits, (xxii) SYKES’ ability to recognize deferred revenue
through delivery of products or satisfactory performance of services, (xxiii) SYKES’ dependence on
trends toward outsourcing, (xxiv) risk of interruption of technical and customer contact management
center operations due to such factors as fire and other disasters, power failures,
telecommunications failures, unauthorized intrusions, computer viruses and other emergencies, (xxv)
the existence of substantial competition, (xxvi) the early
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