The recent merger between New York-listed Stream Global Services, Inc. and the Ayala-backed eTelecare Global Solutions can be the biggest Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) company in the world in 3 to 5 years, easily hauling in US$5-billion revenues and employing 50,000 Filipinos as the country’s second biggest employer after the government, announced Chairman and CEO R. Scott Murray.

With current trends favoring mergers, Stream can grow five times its size over the medium-term. Customers themselves are consolidating and going to consolidated BPOs. Opportunities abound for aggressively acquiring small players left out in the cold and the merger’s shareholders can fund such purchases, he noted.

“We maintain strong financial sponsorships from (stockholders) Ares Management LLC, Providence Equity Partners LLC and Ayala Corporation" institutions that collectively manage over $50 billion in investments.” Stream controls 57.5% of the merger while the Ayalas EGS Corp., the indirect parent company of eTelecare Global Solutions, own 42.5%.

The Philippines is highly in demand among Stream’s clients. No doubt, “The Philippines will become the next India in application development,” Murray stressed. “Work ethic and quality of English here is better.”

However, the most critical factor in BPO development is government support, as in the case with India, he warned. The latter took a decade to get its act together, but the effort paid off. Strong global BPO firms are emerging from India today. “We hope that the new Philippine administration will be pro-business.

Already among the top 5 outsourcers worldwide, Stream set up shop in the Philippines two years ago. The 15 year old firm, whose forte is outsourced Customer Relationship Management (CRM), chose the country as its corporate headquarters in the Asia-Pacific region while it expands in China and Japan and maintains established presence in India and other countries.