Probe Group in partnership with funds advised by Five V Capital enters agreement to acquire Salmat Ltd’s (ASX: SLM) Contact Business

Australian business process outsourcing (BPO) provider Probe Group today announced, that in partnership with funds advised by Five V Capital, it has entered into an agreement to acquire Salmat’s Contact Business. The transaction will create a market-leading, privately owned Australasian BPO provider with an unparalleled service capability.

The combined business, operating as Probe Group, will employ over 3,500 staff, servicing blue-chip corporate and government clients across Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines.

At completion of the acquisition, Probe Group will continue under the leadership of Executive Chairman Rodney Kagan, who will oversee the same senior executive management led by CEO, Andrew Hume and COO, Jarrod Kagan. Combined, this team has over 100 years of industry experience.

Under the terms of the agreement, completion is scheduled to occur on 30 April 2018 subject to satisfaction of customary conditions precedent.

Probe was founded by Mr. Kagan in 1979, and over its 39-year history has grown into a leading full-service BPO provider, servicing many of Australia’s leading companies.

Mr. Kagan said Probe Group will benefit from additional capital and resources to continue to invest in delivering industry-leading services and solutions to its customers.

Mr. Kagan said, “I am very, very excited to announce that Probe has acquired Salmat’s Contact Business, which is one of the leading operators of contact centres in Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. We have combined our market leading capability and management with an established Australasian contact centre platform. This positions us to continue to benefit from ongoing outsourcing trends and to continue to deliver the highest level of service to our clients. Five V Capital’s network, strategic involvement and capital will allow us to lead industry growth and consolidation for a long time to come.”

With deep embedded expertise and standing in the outsourced credit and collections market, Probe embarked on a strategy to build and complement its existing business, which Mr. Kagan described was “a unique opportunity to leverage our operating model and expand our offering.”

Mr Hume said “Salmat’s Contact Business is led by a highly capable and experienced team, whom we look forward to welcoming into our family. Organic growth is strong across the company and that will remain a focus, however, we will continue to look for opportunities to benefit from industry consolidation.”

“Over the last three years, Probe Group has realised significant goals, underpinned by its Next Generation BPO strategy, which has included major investments in new buildings, both in Australia and in the Philippines, technology, data and analytics and people. This has enabled Probe Group to create more than 1,000 new jobs during this period, an achievement of which we are immensely proud,” Mr. Hume added.

“We will continue investing, growing, evolving our capabilities and methodologies and expanding our service offering – making us bigger, better and delivering new opportunities for our people, our clients and partners. Helping us to realise our vision of becoming the most sought after and respected provider wherever we maintain a presence.”

Probe was advised by Intrinsic Partners, Arnold Bloch Leibler and Schoenfeld Consulting; Five V was advised by EY and Gilbert + Tobin

About Probe Group
Probe Group is an Australian-owned business process outsourcing service provider. Probe manages interactions with its client’s customers to generate sales, manage orders, and perform customer service, retention and collections activities as well as associated back-office process management. Probe provides these services to clients across business sectors including Government, Transport and Logistics, Utilities, Telecommunications, Banking and Financial Services, among others. Services are provided from operating sites in Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand and the Philippines. Further details regarding Probe Group are available on its website: https://probegroup.com.au/.

About Five V Capital
Five V Capital is an Australian fund manager based in Sydney which invests in businesses with organic, consolidation or international growth opportunities. Five V supports these businesses to build sustainable leading positions in their markets. Five V is an investor in companies like Ascender, a Sydney-based BPO payroll provider which employs over 800 staff across Australia and Asia Pacific; as well as Unified Healthcare Group, RateSetter Australia, Education Perfect, Madman Entertainment and Canva. Further details regarding Five V are available on its website: http://www.fivevcapital.com/.

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