TELUS International to Acquire Competence Call Center

TELUS International, a customer experience innovator that designs, builds and delivers next-generation digital solutions for global brands, is pleased to announce plans to acquire Competence Call Center (CCC), a leading provider of higher-value-added business services with a focus on customer relationship management and content moderation. The acquisition will be the most sizeable transaction in TELUS International’s history at a purchase price of approximately €915 million, the equivalent of approximately US$1 billion (approximately C$1.3 billion), subject to customary closing adjustments.

Once completed, the merger with CCC is expected to substantially increase TELUS International’s enterprise value to approximately US$3.8 billion (approximately C$5 billion), further enabling the company’s shareholders, including TELUS Corporation and funds affiliated with Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), to bolster the continued advancement of TELUS International’s successful growth strategy through a potential future initial public offering targeted in the next 12-24 months. A press release issued by TELUS Corporation provides additional details regarding the proposed acquisition.

“Today’s announcement anticipates yet another exciting milestone in our company and team’s ability to amplify our drive and momentum to provide the digitally-enabled, high-touch customer experiences that are in growing demand by today’s consumers, particularly in high-demand German language support and the high-growth area of content moderation,” said Jeff Puritt, President and CEO, TELUS International. “Post-merger, TELUS International’s size, scope and reach will grow to encompass almost 50,000 of the most inspired team members, providing customer experience, digital transformation, content moderation, IT lifecycle, advisory and digital consulting, risk management, and back-office support in over 50 languages from more than 50 delivery centers in 20 countries across North and Central America, Europe and Asia.”

Founded in 1998 in Austria, CCC is headquartered today in Berlin, Germany and provides its award winning services across 11 European countries, with more than 8,500 employees. Their geographic footprint will expand TELUS International’s global reach to an additional 10 countries¹. CCC partners with industry-leading global brands primarily from fast-growing technology, media and telecommunications, retail, and travel and hospitality sectors - key growth verticals for TELUS International. The acquisition of CCC will result in a sizeable diversification of TELUS International’s operations and client base in Europe.

Under the agreement, TELUS International will fully acquire CCC. The acquisition is expected to close in the early part of the first quarter of 2020.

“This is an exciting day for our entire Competence Call Center team as we look ahead to joining our two companies’ like-minded caring cultures focused on team member development and engagement to drive customer service excellence,” said Christian Legat, CEO, CCC. “We share the TELUS International team’s passionate commitment to putting customers first and are looking forward to coming together as one organization to amplify the power, reach and performance of our combined capabilities for the benefit of our clients and our teams.”

“Once the merger is completed, TELUS International will be a leader among the largest business services providers globally,” continued Puritt. “Importantly, in addition to the sizeable strategic and financial value we expect to realize through the close of this acquisition, we will simultaneously seize the opportunity to broaden the reach of our community giving to include the incremental regions where we will soon operate in order to contribute meaningfully to healthy, thriving and sustainable local economies and communities where our new team members live, work and raise their families.”

About TELUS International

TELUS International focuses on the value of human connection to design, build and deliver high-tech, high-touch customer experiences powered by next-gen digital solutions. With almost 40,000 team members and delivery centers across North and Central America, Europe and Asia, TELUS International empowers customer experience innovation through digital enablement, spirited teamwork, agile thinking, and a caring culture that puts customers first. The company's solutions cover customer experience, digital transformation, IT lifecycle, advisory and digital consulting, risk management, and back-office support. Fueling any stage of company growth, TELUS International partners with some of the world’s most disruptive brands from fast-growing tech, financial services and fintech, games, travel and hospitality, and healthcare industries. The company serves clients in over 40 languages. Learn more at: telusinternational.com

About TELUS

TELUS (TSX: T, NYSE: TU) is a dynamic, world-leading communications and information technology company with C$14.6 billion in annual revenue and 14.5 million customer connections spanning wireless, data, IP, voice, television, entertainment, video and security. We leverage our global-leading technology to enable remarkable human outcomes. Our longstanding commitment to putting our customers first fuels every aspect of our business, making us a distinct leader in customer service excellence and loyalty. TELUS Health is Canada's largest healthcare IT provider, and TELUS International delivers the most innovative business process solutions to some of the world’s most established brands.

Driven by our passionate social purpose to connect all Canadians for good, our deeply meaningful and enduring philosophy to give where we live has inspired our team members and retirees to contribute more than C$700 million and 1.3 million days of service since 2000. This unprecedented generosity and unparalleled volunteerism have made TELUS the most giving company in the world. For more information about TELUS, please visit telus.com.

About Baring Private Equity Asia

Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA) is one of the largest and most established private alternative investment firms in Asia, with total committed capital of over US$18 billion. The firm runs a private equity investment program, sponsoring buyouts and providing growth capital to companies for expansion or acquisitions with a particular focus on the Asia Pacific region, as well as investing into companies globally that can benefit from further expansion into the Asia Pacific region. BPEA also manages dedicated funds focused on private real estate and private credit. The firm has a 22 year history and over 180 employees located across offices in Hong Kong, China, India, Japan, Singapore and Australia. BPEA currently has over 40 portfolio companies active across Asia with a total of 220,000 employees and sales of approximately US$39 billion. For more information, please visit bpeasia.com.

Forward-looking statements:

This news release contains statements about expected future events, including statements relating to the planned acquisition of Competence Call Center (CCC) by TELUS International, the expected timing of the transaction, the expected benefits of the transaction and plans for its integration (including statements regarding CCC’s expected revenue and TELUS International’s 2019 combined revenue and EBITDA), potential plans and timing of an initial public offering (IPO) by TELUS International as well as the expected enterprise value of TELUS International following the acquisition. By their nature, forward-looking statements require TELUS to make assumptions and predictions and are subject to inherent risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that the acquisition will be completed as expected or upon the terms and conditions described in this news release, that required regulatory approvals will be obtained, that the expected financial results or the expected benefits of the transaction (including the expected increase to TELUS International’s enterprise value) will be realized, or that an IPO by TELUS will be completed within the targeted timeframe or at all. There is significant risk that the forward-looking statements will not prove to be accurate. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release describe our expectations at the date of this news release and, accordingly, are subject to change after such date. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a number of factors could cause actual future events to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, this news release is subject to the disclaimer and qualified by the assumptions, qualifications and risk factors referred to in TELUS' 2019 third quarter Management’s discussion and analysis and 2018 annual report, and in other TELUS public disclosure documents and filings with securities commissions in Canada (on SEDAR at sedar.com) and in the United States (on EDGAR at sec.gov). Except as required by law, TELUS disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.

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¹Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, France, Germany, Latvia, Poland, (Romania - TELUS International has existing sites), Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey

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Contact information

TELUS International Media Relations
Ali Wilson
(604) 328-7093
Ali.Wilson@telusinternational.com

TELUS Media Relations
François Gaboury
(438) 862-5136
francois.gaboury@telus.com

TELUS Investor Relations
Robert Mitchell
(647) 837-1606
ir@telus.com