Irving's AgileThought to Go Public Following Deal With Mexico-Based SPAC

AgileThought, an Irving-based provider of digital transformation and consulting services, is set to go public via a merger with blank check company LIV Capital Acquisition Corp.

The definitive business combination agreement states that the combined company will operate as AgileThought, Inc. and be listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker AGIL. Upon the closing of the transaction, AgileThought, Inc. will have an anticipated market value of around $491 million, according to a news release.

The deal is expected to provide approximately $124 million in primary gross proceeds to AgileThought. The team told Dallas Innovates its headquarters will remain in North Texas.

“This announcement is another key milestone for AgileThought as we continue our mission to fundamentally change the way people, organizations and companies view, approach and deliver software projects to support their digital transformation initiatives,” AgileThought Chairman and CEO Manuel Senderos said in a statement. “This transaction will significantly strengthen AgileThought’s balance sheet and provide us the ability to capture the substantial market opportunity for growth.”

In 2019, AgileThought was acquired by Irving-based digital service provider AN Global. That move allowed Senderos, the founder and chairman of AN Global, to become chairman and CEO of the combined business. At the time, the deal was a way for AgileThought to grow its offerings.

Today, AgileThought is poised to disrupt a more than $750 billion digital transformation services market. As a pure play information technology services company, the company offers agile-first software, end-to-end digital transformation, and consulting services to Fortune 1000 customers.

In all, AgileThought has made 11 acquisitions to make it a one-stop-shop for large enterprises to digitally transform.

AgileThought employees—made up of solution architects, developers, data scientists, engineers, transformation consultants, automation specialists, and more—focus on next-generation solutions at scale. Their capabilities include AI, ML, agile development, ecommerce, UX, UI, and DevOps.

The end goal is to drive business value by solving a company’s digital challenges and optimizing its mission-critical systems.

AgileThought employees—made up of solution architects, developers, data scientists, engineers, transformation consultants, automation specialists, and more—focus on next-generation solutions at scale. The end goal is to drive business value by solving a company’s digital challenges and optimizing its mission-critical systems.

And, allow companies to better compete in the digital market that is developing at a very rapid pace.

“We do that with three life cycle components: innovate, build, and run,” Senderos said during a joint investor call Monday. “We help companies innovate on their business model, determine the best way to approach the market in a digital way, build them the applications in a very collaborative fashion, and then we help them run those applications.”

In all, AgileThought has some 2,300 employees, Olga Shinkaruk, the investor relations VP, told us. They expect to make additional hires locally and worldwide this year, as the company is currently at its highest hiring rate yet. Positions available include software engineers, software developers, cloud specialists, data engineers, data scientists, agile coaches, and scrum masters.

“For the past few years our focus has been exponential growth, mainly in the North American market,” Shinkaruk said. “The move to public market facilitates this even more, making our position with the current clients even stronger and attracting new large enterprise clients.”

Mainly, AgileThought works with customers that have diversity across end-markets and industry verticals. It also operates on an onshore and nearshore business model, meaning that employees are based in the U.S., Mexico, and other Latin American countries.

It’s backed by Nexxus Capital, a PE firm in Mexico, and Mexico Credit Opportunities Fund II, an investment vehicle managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management Mexico.

The deal with LIV Capital Acquisition Corp. (LIVK) is fitting, as the special purpose acquisition company is an affiliate of LIV Capital, a private equity firm that makes investments in high-growth businesses based in Mexico or with a significant presence there. AgileThought is LIVK’s first public market transaction.

LIV Capital has, since 2000, realized returns on investments in a variety of sectors with companies of varying growth stages.

Senderos said he’s delighted to partner with LIVK for AgileThought’s next chapter.

Under his leadership, the company has positioned itself as a leader in digital transformation throughout the past two decades. Senderos previously worked with Grupo Desc as a board director and member of the executive committee. There, he participated in the petrochemical, real estate, and auto parts business groups where he was responsible for implementing SAP across 49 business units.

On the investor call, Senderos also said he expects AgileThought to be a $184 million company this year. That’s “a bit shy” of what it was before COVID. Eventually, he hopes to be one of the prime vendors for helping large enterprises with their digital initiatives.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.

“AgileThought perfectly embodies the platform and company we have sought to merge with our inaugural SPAC vehicle. AgileThought is a great example of the synergistic opportunities that can be achieved in the digital transformation sector between Mexico and the United States,” Alex Rossi, chairman and CEO of LIVK, said in a statement. “We look forward to supporting AgileThought’s growth strategy as a Nasdaq-listed public company.”