Dublin, Ireland-based Equitant specializes in ‘order to cash’ financial processes, otherwise known as accounts receivable, which includes credit control, billing and collections.
Though only a small company, with around 200 employees in Ireland and the US, the company has an impressive client list which includes Cisco Systems, HP and Microsoft, and has also developed some highly-regarded software tools.
Though it would seem likely that IBM will want to make use of its global footprint to deliver the services to Equitant’s clients using more low cost staff, an IBM spokesperson said that all Equitant’s employees would be kept on at their current locations.
Though the both companies have withheld financial details of the transaction, one newspaper report estimated the deal at up to 30m euros ($39m), based on its annual revenues of 10.5m euros ($13.6m) to the end of November 2004.
IBM has major finance and accounting BPO deals with major energy companies such as BP and Marathon, and Williams.
All the major IT services players are busy trying to push their way into the BPO market. Last month EDS acquired a majority stake in human resources outsourcing service provider Towers Perrin, and earlier this week, Accenture won a $575m renewal of its HR deal with BT Group.
The F&A BPO market is estimated by is expected to be worth $16.5bn this year, according to market analysts, IDC.
