A key player for call centre outsourcing, Webhelp is embarking on a third LBO with Charterhouse.

Founded in 2000 and a pioneer in this segment, Webhelp is now one of the French market leaders for offshore call centres, with revenues of €160 million in 2010. This new transaction will enable an exit by the Barclays Private Equity and Astorg Partners funds, which respectively organised the LBOs in 2006 and 2007, combined with exits by Capzanine and other investors. Capzanine’s mezzanine will also be repaid at this time.

Positioned on the market for strong value-added incoming calls (technical and commercial support), Webhelp operates on behalf of prestigious customers across a wide range of sectors, from telecoms to retail, the internet, insurance and even the media. The management team - Olivier Duha and Frédéric Jousset - aim to deliver quality services for their partners within a flexible contractual framework and at attractive prices thanks to offshored centres. With this positioning, the company has successfully become a key player on its market in just a few years. With sites in France, Morocco and Romania, Webhelp has expertise across all communications channels (phone, fax, email, mail, chat, etc.), optimizing the various stages involved in customer relationship management.

According to the management team, this third LBO will make it possible to accelerate the international development of its business, since at this stage Webhelp still generates the majority of its revenues with French-language solutions. The arrival of this new shareholder will therefore represent an opportunity to open up new regions, as well as to continue developing new activities, following on from those already launched: Webhelp TLS, for virtual assistant services, and Webhelp Office, for content creation.