Sorainen cross-border team assisted global leading BPO and customer experience company Webhelp in the acquisition of the majority of the share capital of top multilingual nearshore firm Runway BPO.
Runway, which is headquartered in Riga – Latvia, brings an additional nine multilingual centres and 1,000 people across Latvia and new countries for Webhelp; Estonia, Lithuania, Ukraine and Spain to the Group, as well as additional expertise in not just sectors such as travel and consumer goods but also activities: accounting, IT, and HR outsourcing, complementing Webhelp’s existing portfolio perfectly.
Frédéric Jousset, co-founder of Webhelp, said: “Runway is an excellent business with a strong track record of delivering first-class customer experience on behalf of Scandinavian and international clients. We are very excited about joining forces with the company, its management team and employees, to expand Webhelp’s global footprint and support the company in the Scandinavian market.”
This acquisition is part of Webhelp’s strategy to actively pursue geographical expansion as well as reinforce its sectorial expertise, and will allow Webhelp to offer its clients services from four new countries, each with strong multilingual capabilities.
Sorainen assisted Webhelp with legal due diligence and transaction documents as well as represented the client in the closing of the transaction.
The Sorainen team in the transaction was led by country managing partner Eva Berlaus and included senior associate Renâte Purvinska in Latvia, senior associate Evaldas Dûdonis in Lithuania and senior associate Kai Vainola in Estonia, as well as other team members. Sorainen advised the client in cooperation with international law firm DLA Piper.
