Huntsman Gay Global Capital Makes Strategic Investment In iQor

NEW YORK, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Huntsman Gay Global Capital, a leading middle market private equity firm, today announced that it has made a majority investment in iQor Holdings Inc., a global provider of business process outsourcing (BPO) services and the second largest accounts receivable management company in the world. iQor's current management team will remain in place and retain a significant ownership stake in the company. Terms of the private transaction were not disclosed.

Headquartered in New York City, iQor has 11,000 employees worldwide and 21 locations in North America, Europe, India and Asia. The company generated more than $345 million in revenues in 2009, and its clients include financial services companies, government organizations and Fortune 1000 companies.

Guggenheim Investment Management, which has owned iQor since 2007, is retaining an equity interest in the business and providing debt financing for the transaction. Starr International Company, Inc., through one of its subsidiaries, is investing together with Huntsman Gay in the deal.

"A number of investors showed strong interest in iQor, but we determined that Huntsman Gay Global Capital is the right choice to help us realize our potential," said Vikas Kapoor, President and CEO of iQor. "Huntsman Gay's thoughtful, data-driven approach throughout the diligence process demonstrated a keen understanding of our business, our customers and end markets. The professionals at Huntsman Gay have strong strategic and operations experience and we have found them to be great working partners. We are confident that they will add real value as we work to achieve our strategic objectives."

"This is a signature deal for Huntsman Gay," said Gary Crittenden, Managing Director of Huntsman Gay Global Capital.  "What Vikas and iQor's management team have done in just five years is remarkable, transforming what began as a roll-up of collection agencies with negative EBITDA into a profitable and growing market leader in the BPO industry. iQor has done this by systematizing the business, enhancing compliance processes, and implementing innovations that change the way it recruits, trains and rewards its people. iQor has made a major investment over the last few years in its TeQ21® technology suite, which we believe will enable the company to outperform the competition at every level."

As part of its TeQ21 suite, iQor's thin client technology platform and centralized data processing capability have driven significant improvements in customer service levels while dramatically lowering cost per seat. Its talent management platform enables iQor to attract and hire talented staff, which has led to a turnover rate that is half the industry standard.  In turn, iQor's clients benefit from a more experienced, better compensated, and more productive workforce.

"Huntsman Gay's resources and experience will enable iQor to continue to deploy our technology and ensure that we provide more innovative, more compliant and more effective service," Kapoor explained. "We look forward to partnering with Huntsman Gay to capitalize on the tremendous opportunity before us."

About iQor

iQor (www.iqor.com) provides business process outsourcing to some of the best-known companies in the world from 21 Centers of Excellence in five countries and four continents. iQor's employees work with award-winning, state-of-the-art technology that affords maximum flexibility to iQor customers to tap the best skills of a global workforce. It serves clients from a range of industries including financial services, telecommunications and government. Its services include customer care, customer retention and revenue recovery.

About Huntsman Gay Global Capital

Huntsman Gay Global Capital is a private equity firm that brings unrivaled experience to the middle market—offering all the advantages of both a strategic and a financial buyer in one firm. Co-founded by Jon M. Huntsman, one of the world's leading industrialists, and Robert C. Gay, a former managing director of Bain Capital, the firm focuses on middle market leveraged buyouts and growth equity investments. For more information, please visit www.hgequity.com.

SOURCE Huntsman Gay Global Capital