TeleSpectrum and IDRC to Merge
Two major outsourcing service bureaus, TeleSpectrum Worldwide Inc. and International Data Response Corp. (IDRC), have agreed to merge.
According to TeleSpectrum, the combined company will be the seventh-largest teleservices outfit in the industry, based on combined 1998 revenues of about $330 million. The merger, which requires regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to be completed in mid-May.
The new company will operate as TeleSpectrum and will be headquartered at TeleSpectrum’s current base in King of Prussia, PA. It will have 30 call centers in the U.S. and four in Canada, for a total of 6,014 seats and more than 11,000 employees.
TeleSpectrum will issue 9.2 million shares of common stock and refinance about $105 million in IDRC’s debt in return for all of IDRC’s common stock. In addition, IDRC shareholders will receive 3 million warrants to buy TeleSpectrum stock at $9.67 per share.
IDRC, based in Rancho Santa Fe, CA, operates in Canada under the name S & P Data and in the United States under Promark and IDRC. Its 1998 revenues were about $160 million.
IDRC chairman and CEO Jeffrey Stiefler will become chairman of the combined business. TeleSpectrum chairman, president and CEO Keith E. Alessi will become its president and CEO.
