Konecta Aquires Allus, Rises to Power in LatAm Contact Center Industry

Grupo Konecta has bought out Allus Global and B-Connect in back-to-back acquisitions, rising to become one of the three largest Spanish language contact center service providers in Latin America.
With more than 20,000 agents and dozens of delivery centers in Colombia, Argentina, and Peru, Allus Global is a growing call center operator in the region. B-Connect is one of the top ten call center service providers in Mexico, with about 4,000 customer care executives.
The purchase of Allus does not expand Konecta’s operation to new markets, but helps the Spanish firm gain a larger foothold in the region, particularly in Colombia and Argentina, where Konecta already has presence.
“Allus is predominantly a call center service provider for the Spanish market, although the company does have a few U.S. clients and provides nearshore customer care service in English language,” stated Sebastian Menutti, Digital Transformation Industry Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
The acquisitions put Konecta in competition with other voice-based BPO providers in the region, such as Convergys and Teleperformance. “They don’t have as many Latin American customers as Atento and Konecta have,” Menutti said, with reference to Convergys and Sykes.
Allus was created following the merger of Argentina’s call center firm ActionLine and Colombia’s Multienlace. In April 2011, it was acquired by Brazilian customer service giant Grupo Contax.
Menutti says Contax is trying to focus on the domestic market, which is currently moving through what it called “a rough patch”.  The spin-off limits Contax’s operations to Brazil. “Contax has sold off its international operation that was primarily made of Allus,” he added.
Founded in 1999, Konecta’s major industry verticals are telecommunications, utilities, banking, and insurance. In recent years, the company is increasingly adding social and digital tools to its offering in an effort to make its customer service more attractive.
Perhaps, Allus’ ability to provide customer service through social media channels grabbed the attention of the Spanish firm. Konecta was founded by Spanish businessman Jose Maria Pacheco, but today 40% of the company is owned by European private equity firm PAI Partners, with Banco Santander owning another 40%.
Konecta’s owners are hopeful that the two new acquisitions will help the company realize its goal of reaching US$1.1 billion in annual revenue. Elsewhere in the world, Konecta runs delivery centers in Portugal, the United Kingdom, and Morocco, in addition to Spain.