Founder to Take TDCX Private

Singapore-based customer experience solutions firm TDCX is to be acquired and taken private by a team led by its CEO and founder Laurent Junique, via a merger valuing the nearly 18,000-strong company at around $1.037bn.

TDCX provides 'transformative' digital CX solutions to help major corporates acquire new customers, build loyalty and engage with their online communities. Clients are in fintech, gaming, technology, travel and hospitality, digital advertising and social media, streaming and e-commerce. The majority of the firm's 30 campuses are located in Asia, from Turkey to China and The Philippines via India - and the firm says 96% of its business operations are in Asia, 'though it also has locations in Brazil and Colombia, Spain and Romania.

A year ago the company launched a Digital CX Center of Excellence, in Singapore, to pilot and validate new CX models.

Junique (pictured), a French citizen, started TeleDirect in Singapore in 1995 to handle clients' calls, emails and faxes, changing its name to TDCX five years ago after it had broadened its range of services.

The short-form merger, under Cayman Islands jurisdiction, will see TDCX acquired by a Buyer Group consisting of Junique and his affiliates, who already own c.86.1% of all the issued and outstanding shares, representing approximately 98.4% of the aggregate voting power of the company. The price represents a premium of 48% to the closing price of the Company's shares on December 29th, the last trading day before it received a 'going-private' proposal; and 17% to the closing price on February 29th. No shareholder vote or special resolution is required to approve the merger, which is currently expected to close in the second quarter of 2024. Shares, which were priced at $18 for TDCX's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange in October 2021, will no longer be listed.

The firm's web site, which appears not to allow any interaction unless cookies are accepted, is at www.tdcx.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.