Serco in exclusive talks with Aegon for multi-million pound BPO deal

BANGALORE: In what could potentially be its second largest business process outsourcing ( BPO) win after it acquired India-based back office firm, Intelenet Global Services, UK firm Serco said it was in exclusive talks to finalise to a 10-year outsourcing partnership with life and pensions firm, Aegon.

The deal is in excess of 150 miillion pounds, an official said. The partnership will be for providing customer contact and support services for Aegon's UK-based protection business and is expected to start in the fourth quarter of the year.

Serco's back office business, including the erstwhile Intelenet business, now operates under the brand of Serco Global Services. Serco's largest BPO win to date is a deal for managing customer services for Shop Direct's brands, which was estimated at 450 million pounds.

"This contract strengthens Serco's position in the UK financial services BPO market," said Susir Kumar, executive chairman, Serco Global Services. Earlier, Serco had announced a deal to manage sales and service enquiries for general insurance major, Esure, from Manchester.

Under this new partnership Serco will operate primarily from Aegon's offices in Lytham St Annes, UK, which Serco plans to establish as a centre of excellence delivering BPO services. It will also take over 330 employees of Aegon as part of the agreement.