Call centre services provider, Competence Call Center AG (CCC), sets sights on accelerated growth with the backing of AXA Private Equity

AXA Private Equity, the European diversified private equity house, is acquiring a stake in Competence Call Center AG (CCC), a leading European operator of customer care centres. Thomas Kloibhofer,company founder and until now sole stakeholder of CCC, will remain CEO and stakeholder. The completion of the transaction is subject to the fulfilment of conditions including the approval of the antitrust
authorities in Austria and Germany.

Founded in 1998, CCC is an Austrian headquartered firm, which currently operates eight call centres in six countries. CCC has plans for further expansion into new markets in Austria and throughout Europe. The company employs 2,000 people and the largest office is located in Berlin. CCC has grown dynamically in recent years, and the company expects another record year in 2009.

Dirk Wittneben, director of AXA Private Equity in Germany, commented: “Over the course of 11 years, CCC has become a very successful company. It provides call centre services of the highest quality and the firm has assisted 100 million customers since launch. We believe CCC is well placed to grow internationally in the coming years and we’re excited to be able support the firm with their continued longterm expansion.”

Thomas Kloibhofer, CEO and founder of CCC, said: “The global expansion of the call centre sector provides a huge opportunity for CCC. To further enhance our proposition, we want to take advantage of the changed economic environment. We plan to achieve this by considering the acquisition of call centre operators worldwide. AXA Private Equity is our partner of choice for achieving these goals - our companies and our cultures strategically complement one another. ”

About AXA Private Equity

AXA Private Equity, an AXA Investment Managers company, is a leading private equity firm with US$26 billion in managed assets and a global reach extending across Europe, North America and Asia. The firm offers investors the full spectrum of private equity services for every market segment: direct funds, infrastructure financing, mid cap and small cap buyouts, venture capital, co-investments, fund of funds as well as mezzanine financing.

With offices in Paris, Frankfurt, London, New York, Singapore, Milan, Zurich and Vienna, AXA Private Equity supports the development and long-term growth of its portfolio companies with sustainable growth strategies and by granting them access to the AXA international network. AXA Private Equity has earned the trust of its investors by regularly supplying them with transparent performance data on its funds and portfolio companies.

AXA Private Equity, Global Investments the European Way
www.axaprivateequity.com

Press Contacts AXA Private Equity :

Daniel Kahn / Maria Shum, The HeadLand Consultancy
+44 20 7367 5222
dkahn@headlandconsultancy.co.uk / mshum@headlandconsultancy.co.uk

About CCC

Competence Call Center AG (CCC) was founded in January of 1998. Based in Vienna, CCC operates eight call centres in six countries. The most important locations are Berlin, Vienna, Linz, Zurich, Bratislava, Leipzig, Bucharest and Istanbul. CCC has eleven years of experience in the segments of inbound, outbound, e-mail, fax, letter, training, and consulting expertise. The company’s pool of over 100 million customer contacts and multilingual services in 18 languages are available to all CCC customers. Inbound services account for over 90 percent of the call volume. Highly professional call centre services with focus on mobile communications, telecommunications and internet, financial services, tourism and government, professional project management, and the operative realization of customer service projects make CCC an attractive and desirable partner in these fields as well. CCC also trains agents and managers in the art of professional phone and written communication and provides consulting for the installation of call centre units, both in-house and in conjunction with an outsourcing partner.

Competence Call Center AG

www.yourccc.com

Press Contacts Competence Call Center AG :

Mag. Marianne Rutrecht
Public Relations

Competence Call Center AG
Spengergasse 37, 1050 Wien

T +43 1 81122-7703
F +43 1 81122-3344
E marianne.rutrecht@yourccc.com
www.yourccc.com 

Deal/ advisors teams :

Buyer: AXA Private Equity: Dirk Wittneben, Marc Abadir
Legal/Tax: Salans / Hausmaninger Kletter: Holger Scheer, Dr. Mark Kletter, Volker Veth
Commercial: AMR International: Oliver Runkel
Financial: Deloitte Touche: Alexander Hohendanner, Egon Sachsalber
Seller: Blue Corporate Finance: Lars Veit, Konstantin von Schoenborn
Legal: Schoenherr Rectsanwaelte: Dr. Christian Herbst