Telekom Indonesia takes 75% stake in Australian contact centre

Telekom Indonesia, through its Australian subsidiary, has acquired 75 percent of Sydney-based Contact Centres Australia (CCA) for AU$11 million.

Telekom, which has been in Australia since 2013, bought into the privately owned company as part of the Indonesian telecommunications incumbent's move to become a global telecommunications information and services company through partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions.

Contact Centres Australia, founded in 2002, has 600 employees, with two subsidiary companies across Australia and New Zealand. Locally, it services clients including Rio Tinto, Colgate, and Pfizer Australia.

Telekom Australia CEO Siam Nugraha said the decision to invest in Contact Centres Australia was based around the existing systems, management, and people in place.

"We intend to work with the CCA team to invest in the company's ability to grow in the Australian and New Zealand market, as well as export the way they do business to our other BPO operations in Indonesia," he said in a statement.

Telekom Indonesia is also playing a key role in expanding Australia's telecommunications incumbent, Telstra, into the Asia-Pacific region, with the two companies forming a joint-venture company that will allow Telstra to provide network applications and services into Indonesia in 2015.

CEO David Thodey last week responded to concerns from retail shareholders over the potential loss of Telstra's intellectual property as part of the deal, stating that Telstra has safeguards in place. He said that the deal required Telekom Indonesia to retain a majority ownership of the joint-venture company in order to comply with Indonesian foreign ownership laws.