Press Release | Gütersloh, 04/26/2023

Bertelsmann Agrees to Tender Its Shares in Majorel into Takeover Offer by Teleperformance

• Teleperformance acquires global CX services provider Majorel for €3 billion
• Majorel revenues have near-doubled to €2.1 billion since its founding in 2019
• Bertelsmann CEO Thomas Rabe: “A fantastic entrepreneurial success story”

Gütersloh, April 26, 2023 - Bertelsmann agrees to accept a contemplated takeover offer for its 39.5-percent stake in the global customer experience company Majorel by the French company Teleperformance, which today announced that it will offer to buy all shares in Majorel at a valuation of €30 per share. Saham Group, co-founder and shareholder of Majorel, will also accept the takeover offer by Teleperformance, which has a total volume of €3 billion. Majorel’s existing shareholders would receive a total of €2 billion in cash and €1 billion in Teleperformance shares. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval.

Bertelsmann Chairman & CEO Thomas Rabe said: “Majorel has been a fantastic entrepreneurial success story from the very beginning. In the four years since it was founded, Majorel's revenues alone have nearly doubled. Bertelsmann is proud to have shaped Majorel with our partner Saham and to now take this strategic step to sell its shares in Majorel to Teleperformance, a great new home for our employees and customers.”

Bertelsmann’s Chief Financial Officer Rolf Hellermann added: “We would like to thank the management of Majorel led by CEO Thomas Mackenbrock for their exceptional work developing the business in these past few years. They have made Majorel a renowned CX partner for globally operating customers.”

In 2018, Bertelsmann and the Saham Group announced that they would merge their global customer experience businesses into a joint venture, which has been operating under the name Majorel since the beginning of 2019. This was followed in 2021 by the IPO of shares in the venture. In fiscal 2022, the publicly listed service company with approximately 82,000 employees saw strong revenue growth of 16 percent, to €2.1 billion. Operating EBITDA was €369 million, up by around 18 percent year-on-year. The operating EBITDA margin was 17.8 percent. Majorel is active in 45 countries around the world and in 70 languages for around 500 customers.

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the entertainment group RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group, and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 165,000 employees around the world and generated revenues of €20.2 billion in the 2022 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.