Brazilian operator Oi and Portuguese incumbent Portugal Telecom (PT)are in talks to merge their call centre operations in Brazil, according to media reports.
Portuguese business daily Diario Economico reported yesterday that the talks concerned PT’s…
Brazilian operator Oi and Portuguese incumbent Portugal Telecom (PT)are in talks to merge their call centre operations in Brazil, according to media reports.
Portuguese business daily Diario Economico reported yesterday that the talks concerned PT’s call centre subsidiary Contax and Oi’s subsidiary Dedic GPTI.
If the two call centre companies are merged, then they will form the third largest business in Brazil, employing over 100,000 people.
According to the report, the merger talks were one of the reasons for a delay in an attempt by PT to acquire a stake of 23% in Oi. The newspaper had claimed in an earlier report that the transaction was expected to be completed in January.
This comes after the billionaire Joao Alves de Queiroz Filho revealed in late December that he had (through an unnamed investment fund) acquired 28.8% of the Brazilian internet portal UOL from PT for an undisclosed amount.
In a statement, Queiroz Filho said that the acquisition was not aimed at changing UOL’s controlling or management structure.
The sale was a surprise, as previous reports had suggested that PT was preparing to sell its stake to publishing conglomerate Grupo Folha, which currently holds a 54.87% stake in UOL.
There were reports earlier this week that Hypermarcas, the consumer goods company owned by Queiroz Filho, had bought the stake, but they appear to be unfounded.
Diario Economico speculated that it was a move by PT to avoid competition issues.
PT failed to reply to questions before the press deadline.
