Paxys unit acquires software solutions firm

MANILA, Philippines - SmartSalary Pty Ltd., the wholly-owned Australian-based subsidiary of BPO holding firm Paxys, has completed the purchase of 100 percent of the share capital of SeQoya Pty Ltd. for A$1.2 million (about P50 million).

With the completion of the transaction, SeQoya becomes a subsidiary of SmartSalary, the second largest provider of outsourced salary packaging services in Australia.

The acquisition will be fully funded through internal SmartSalary funds.

SeQoya is a provider of salary packaging software solutions in Australia.

Last March, SmartSalary also completed the asset acquisition of Melbourne Systems Group.

 As a result of these two acquisitions, the two major Australian providers of in-house salary packaging software solutions are now owned and operated by SmartSalary.

Company officials pointed out that these acquisitions enhance SmartSalary’s competitive position to uniquely offer both fully outsourced and in-house solutions in the Australian salary packaging industry.

Salary packaging administration is an Australian Taxation Office-approved means of allowing employees to structure their income through a combination of cash and other benefits.

They added that this allows SmartSalary to effectively expand its target customer base beyond that of its full-outsource model competitors.

Paxys, a company incorporated in the Philippines and listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange, focuses on investments in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and related sectors within the Asia Pacific region.

The company, formerly known as Fil-Hispano Holding Corp., was incorporated in 1952 and listed on the PSE in 1971. It eventually transformed down and sold off its tile manufacturing operations from 1999 to 2002.

In 2004, the principal shareholder of Advanced Contact Solutions Inc. (ACS), a leading call center company, acquired a controlling stake in Paxys through a reverse takeover by injecting 100 percent of ACS into the company, effectively making Paxys the first call center to be listed on the PSE.

In October 2005, the company changed its name to Paxys Inc. to better describe its current focus on BPO investments within the Asia Pacific region.

About three years ago, Paxys acquired the entire 29.8 million shares of SmartSalary for A$36.7 million, the first offshore expansion foray by a Filipino IT firm in Australia.

Based on its long-term plans, Paxys will use SmartSalary as a staging base to penetrate the BPO markets in the United Kingdom and other European countries.

Operating in five Australian capital cities, SmartSalary services 55,000 employees representing 55 employer organizations. It specializes in large corporate clients, commonwealth and state governments, major health care groups and other public entities.