Due to a change in family circumstances, a rare opportunity has arisen to acquire as a going concern,

a Hua Hin entity with a BOI license to operate a 24-hour, 40 seat call center.

The key is that this license allows for up to 120 foreign employees to live and work in Thailand when operating three shifts, and this can facilitate an international inbound, multi-lingual call center. Management has previously operated a turnkey business model that recruits, arranges housing, and trains staff.

This large-scale facility has provided a valuable service to a foreign enterprise and has benefited from operating in Hua Hin because of the plentiful and inexpensive accommodations available and because young, new recruits looking for an overseas experience want to go there.

There’s an option to acquire 100% ownership of the land and property as this license permits 100% foreign land ownership for the purpose of operations, and full repatriation of funds.

The selling price for this business is undemanding, the potential payback period is short, and ROE can (and has been) very compelling. Further details are available on signing a Non-Disclosure-Agreement (NDA).

Thailand itself lacks the ability to readily supply large numbers of English language speakers to man a call center, but it’s irrelevant for this unique license.

This BOI license offers an opportunity to recruit a large number of staff of any nationality and language without having to hire local staff.

More importantly, this opportunity is very likely no longer available from the BOI as today and normally

an licensed entity will need to hire three Thai staff for each foreign employee which would make the business model infeasible. The flip side is that this license can’t be used to compete with Thai call centers that serve the Thai market and is for foreign inbound calls only, but it can serve multiple foreign clients and language needs. This business has adopted the latest technology to track the calls, duration other metrics, but there’s scope to add alternative telephonic and web-based software as well as live chat forums.

Alternatively, there might also an opportunity to invest in a long-term arrangement to provide Hua Hin staff accommodation as well as food and other staff services. Applying for the work visas and work permits is smooth and easy as there is a local agency that is retained to effectively handle this on an ongoing basis.

Worldwide the call centre industry is expected to grow 6-7% over the next five years with the Covid-19 crisis creating a wave of corporate inhouse outsourcing and the licenses in Hua Hin are ideal to capture some of this.

In recent years and in light of frequent technology changes and an ageing society, there has been a proliferation of helplines, live chats, and multi-lingual call centers.

The global market for call centers was estimated at US$339 billion for 2020 and

is projected to reach a revised size of US$496 billion by 2027 according to www.globenewswire.com.

However, this is likely an underestimate as Global Newswire survey didn’t take into account the exponential growth in consumer online activity that has replaced the need for physical store presence. Many of the hastily put together call centres for home delivery services will be here to stay but there is likely to be a need to make these more cost efficient which would mean outsourcing to countries with lower costs.

As a cash generating, effectively debt free business, this call center opportunity is in a strong position to quickly flourish. There are specific growth opportunities emerging in the post-vaccine Covid-19 environment and this sale is an opportunity to realize the full potential of a 40 seat, 120 staff (three shifts) international call centre that can service any client in any country besides Thailand.

This firm has shown a consistent ability to control costs and realize strong revenues and maintain

an attractive cost-plus margin. Marketing and admin costs are easy to project. It is also a fun, team spirited business to be involved with.

We envisage that this opportunity will be attractive to an international call center player operating in Thailand or the region and who’d like to hire more foreign workers without the need to hire Thai.

Alternatively, it would suit a business or individual with an established connection abroad that has a need for outsourcing its call center requirements, or perhaps an overseas entity that would like to own and operate its call center in Hua Hin Thailand. The current owner is open to offers and the price is attractive on the basis of a quick sale