Company calls on smartphone firm in $9.7M acquisition

TAMPA — Sykes Enterprises Inc. purchased the Amsterdam-based smartphone instructional software company Qelp.

In its second-quarter financial filing, Tampa-based Sykes (symbol: SYKE; recent price: $24.35) says it paid 8.9 million euros in cash for the company. That's equal to $9.76 million.

With offices in The Netherlands, São Paulo, Brazil and Madrid, Qelp creates software to guide call center employees and customers to set up applications and troubleshoot problems on mobile devices. Qelp had revenues of $5.4 million in 2014, and is growing by more than 25% annually, according to a statement from Sykes.

Sykes, a customer management outsourcing firm, says the Qelp purchase broadens and strengthens its service portfolio for digital customer support and extends its reach into complementary markets.