Telus International acquires digital consultancy WillowTree
Telus International, the IT consulting arm of Vancouver-based communications firm Telus, has acquired WillowTree, a Charlottesville, VA-based consultancy focusing on mobile application development.
Founded in 2008, WillowTree provides services in mobile strategy, product design, development, testing, launch, and growth. The firm works with Fortune 500 clients including Fox, PepsiCo, ABInBev, and Manulife.
WillowTree has more than 1,000 employees across offices in the Americas and Europe. The firm had revenue growth of 50% to reach US$160 million in 2021.
Telus International has agreed to buy WillowTree for US$1.2 billion in a deal expected to close in January 2023. Insignia Capital Group will sell its majority stake in WillowTree as part of the deal, exiting the company after five years.
The deal will add strong mobile development capabilities to Telus International, helping meet client and internal demand for digital product resources. It will also expand Telus International’s presence into two new countries and will add a roster of new clients.
“The acquisition of WillowTree brings key tech talent and diversity to TELUS International’s portfolio of next-generation solutions, and further augments its digital consulting and innovative client-centric software development capabilities,” said Darren Entwistle, chair of the board of Telus International and president and CEO of Telus. “Furthermore, WillowTree will enhance TELUS International’s ability to accelerate TELUS’ own ongoing digital transformation and support key product development across our business, particularly within health and agriculture and consumer goods.”
Parent company Telus’ divisions include Telus Communications, Telus Mobility, Telus Health, Telus Agriculture & Consumer Goods, and Telus International.
Telus International provides digital solutions for customer experience (CX) to clients across industries. The firm’s offerings include digital strategy, innovation, consulting and design, digital transformation and IT lifecycle solutions, data annotation and intelligent automation, and omnichannel CX solutions including content moderation and other managed solutions.
Telus International has approximately 70,000 team members across 55 delivery centers in 28 countries and boasts more than 600 global clients.
Tobias Dengel, CEO of WillowTree, added, “By combining the capabilities of these companies, we expect to be uniquely positioned to deliver frictionless, end-to-end user experiences, deploying a unified solution designed to allow our clients’ customers and employees to hop seamlessly among apps or websites, AI voice and bot engagement, and human voice or omnichannel support.”
