KKR To Acquire Calabrio To Enhance Customer Engagement

The leading global investment firm, KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Calabrio, a leading provider of customer engagement and analytics software. However, the deal is subject to the receipt of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. Notably, the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

KKR seeks to make the investment through its eleventh Americas Private Equity investment fund.

Rationale Behind the Acquisition of a Data and Analytics Company

Per a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey of CEOs in 2015, data mining and analytics is considered to be the second most strategically important digital technology and organization capability. Further, it is believed that data and analytics is the most important means for delivering a better customer experience and enhancing business efficiency.

In addition, the technology sector has been an attractive industry for private equity firms, accounting for the largest share of deals in the U.S. this year. Notably, KKR has a long history of supporting technology companies, with an investment of around $17 billion of equity across the technology, media and telecom sectors since 1983. Further, the company plans to use the present acquisition as a platform for similar other deals.

Why Calabrio?

Calabrio provides products and services to help companies in understanding their customers better. The company builds software meant to enhance the call-center interactions by analyzing the sentiment or tone of the caller and thus directing the calls to the right attendant.This further helps to drive its top-line growth.

John Park, a director of KKR and a member of KKR's technology team, said, "Calabrio has become one of the fastest-growing, quality companies in workforce optimization and customer engagement. With our partnership, we hope to accelerate the company's growth even further as the world continues to move toward a customer engagement model through omnichannel integration."

Currently, KKR carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Other Stocks That Warrant a Look

Some better-ranked investment managers include Virtus Investment Partners, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRTS) , sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Fifth Street Asset Management Inc. (NASDAQ:FSAM) and Eaton Vance Corp. (NYSE:EV) , both holding a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

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