SYNNEX CORPORATION, the California-headquartered business process services group, has acquired the privately owned Belfast-based outsourcing firm Gem.
Financial details relating to the deal have not been disclosed but the American group has confirmed that Gem will become part of its business services division, Concentrix Corporation.
Gem, which employs more than 700 people across two locations in Belfast and Debrecen in Hungary, was founded by Philip Cassidy in 2000.
In the last 11 years, the Belfast-headquartered firm has developed a multichannel, multilingual call centre and has increased its annual revenues to an estimated $25 million.
Synnex, a Fortune 500 company, yesterday posted third-quarter results which showed revenues had grown to $2.57 billion.
Mr Cassidy, who is Gem’s chief executive officer, and its management team will remain with the company following its sale to Synnex. As the founder of Gem he felt “joy and also a little sadness” about the deal.
“This is really good for Northern Ireland because Concentrix Corporation wants to grow their European hub from Belfast and that can only be a good thing for Northern Ireland,” Mr Cassidy added. “Everyone who works for Gem is very excited about this because it means there will be lots of new opportunities within a much bigger organisation.”
He said the decision to sell Gem more than a decade after it was established came down to “good timing and shared cultural values”. Concentrix and Gem would prove a good match, he added.
Chris Caldwell, Concentrix’s senior vice-president and general manager global services, said the Northern Ireland acquisition was “complementary” to the American group’s “services and geographical footprint”. “With the acquisition of Gem, Concentrix will have over 7,500 employees around the world operating in 10 countries and delivering support in all major languages,” he added.
