Atento Announces Agreement to Acquire Majority Stake in Interfile to Expand Credit Origination Capabilities

SAO PAULO, March 21, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Atento S.A. (NYSE:  ATTO), the leading provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing services (CRM BPO) in Latin America, and one of the three top providers worldwide, today announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Interfile. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

Founded in 1991, Interfile is a leading provider of BPO services and solutions for the banking and financial services sector in Brazil. Interfile is a benchmark in the BPO market in Brazil, and provides services and solutions, including credit origination, to a great majority of blue-chip brands operating in the financial sector. It has more than 1,700 employees, 2  BPO services centers, 28 operations offices and more than 1,400 workstations, offering great proximity and efficiency to clients across Brazil.

Alejandro Reynal, Atento's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "The acquisition of Interfile advances the execution of our growth strategy, accelerates Atento´s penetration into higher value-add solutions and uniquely positon our company as the leader of the credit origination BPO services market in Brazil. As part of our growth strategy, we continue to expand our presence and gain scale in credit origination to address this high growth segment. Interfile´s acquisition provides Atento with a unique platform to deploy these strengthened capabilities across key countries in the Latin America region."

Mario Camara, Atento Brazil Managing Director, added, "The joint capabilities of Atento and Interfile will make us the largest provider of credit origination BPO solutions in Brazil. We will offer a superior and integrated BPO services platform to manage all pre-sales and post-sales activities, with a unique expertise and experience in the provision of credit origination solutions. We look forward to unveiling a whole new set of opportunities for our clients."

Mauricio Menezes, CEO of Interfile, commented, "This event is a major milestone for Interfile. We are very excited about the great opportunities that joining a great Latin American leader, such as Atento, will bring for our clients and our employees. Our corporate visions are aligned and we look forward to generating higher value to our clients by providing the best BPO services in the market."

Following the acquisition, founders of Interfile, Mauricio Menezes and all key Interfile´s management team will continue to lead the company as it initiates this new phase within Atento.

The combination of Atento and Interfile:

• Provides clients with a fully integrated BPO services platform to deliver end-to-end solutions addressing all BPO processes for financial services, from pre-sales to post sales activities including all back office processes (capture, forms/id validation, credit approval, contracts generation, support to decision making and contract management) as well as client management activities.
• Creates the largest provider of credit origination BPO solutions for different segments in Brazil with more than 4,000 professionals with strong credit origination expertise in the country
• Positions Atento as a leading provider of credit origination BPO services in the broader Latin America BPO market, enhancing its value proposition for BPO services beyond financial services to reach adjacent sectors such as BPO services for insurance, health, HR and education
• Facilitates Atento´s expansion into credit origination segments in other key Latin America geographies 
• Drives consolidation in this fragmented and compelling market in Latin America. Latin America credit origination BPO services is $0.9 billion. Brazil credit origination market is $0.6 billion (65% of the total Latam market). Together Atento and Interfile will have ~9.2% and   ~10.4% market share of the credit origination BPO services market in Latin America and Brazil respectively

About Atento
Atento is the largest provider of customer relationship management and business process outsourcing (CRM BPO) services in Latin America, and among the top three providers globally, based on revenues. Atento is also a leading provider of nearshoring CRM/BPO services to companies that carry out their activities in the United States. Since 1999, the company has developed its business model in 13 countries where it employs more than 150,000 people. Atento has over 400 clients to whom it offers a wide range of CRM/BPO services through multiple channels. Atento's clients are mostly leading multinational corporations in sectors such as telecommunications, banking and financial services, health, retail and public administrations, among others. Atento´s shares trade under the symbol ATTO on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). In 2016, Atento was named one of the World´s 25 Best Multinational Workplaces by Great Place to Work® for a third consecutive year. For more information visit www.atento.com

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as "may," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "intends," "continue" or similar terminology. These statements reflect only Atento's current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance or results. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, competition in Atento's highly competitive industries; increases in the cost of voice and data services or significant interruptions in these services; Atento's ability to keep pace with its clients' needs for rapid technological change and systems availability; the continued deployment and adoption of emerging technologies; the loss, financial difficulties or bankruptcy of any key clients; the effects of global economic trends on the businesses of Atento's clients; the non-exclusive nature of Atento's client contracts and the absence of revenue commitments; security and privacy breaches of the systems Atento uses to protect personal data; the cost of pending and future litigation; the cost of defending Atento against intellectual property infringement claims; extensive regulation affecting many of Atento's businesses; Atento's ability to protect its proprietary information or technology; service interruptions to Atento's data and operation centers; Atento's ability to retain key personnel and attract a sufficient number of qualified employees; increases in labor costs and turnover rates; the political, economic and other conditions in the countries where Atento operates; changes in foreign exchange rates; Atento's ability to complete future acquisitions and integrate or achieve the objectives of its recent and future acquisitions; future impairments of our substantial goodwill, intangible assets, or other long-lived assets; and Atento's ability to recover consumer receivables on behalf of its clients. In addition, Atento is subject to risks related to its level of indebtedness. Such risks include Atento's ability to generate sufficient cash to service its indebtedness and fund its other liquidity needs; Atento's ability to comply with covenants contained in its debt instruments; the ability to obtain additional financing; the incurrence of significant additional indebtedness by Atento and its subsidiaries; and the ability of Atento's lenders to fulfill their lending commitments. Atento is also subject to other risk factors described in documents filed by the company with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. 

These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements were made. Atento undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

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SOURCE Atento S.A.