American firm buys Devonshire

US offshore outsourcing company OfficeTiger has bought UK business process outsourcing (BPO) firm Devonshire to increase its presence in the European market.

OfficeTiger is based in New York but runs most of its operations offshore in India, specialising in back-office, document production and content publishing services in the financial services sector.

The acquisition of Devonshire and its clients will give OfficeTiger an outsourcing foothold in Europe, where it has found it hard to break into the market.

The value of the deal was not disclosed but Devonshire's annual revenue is around €16m.

Joseph Sigelman, Co-CEO of OfficeTiger, said in a statement: "With this acquisition, we will continue to grow dramatically in the UK and continental Europe. This reflects OfficeTiger’s vision of strong, domestic managed services as a complement to our heritage of offshore outsourcing solutions. We see Devonshire as being a part of structuring the next generation of outsourcing companies."

The move is further evidence of the focus on Europe by offshore outsourcing companies. Many of the established Indian IT firms have or are in the process of setting up bases in low-cost eastern European countries as a way of tapping into the European market.