UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION‌
Washington, D.C. 20549‌
 
FORM 8-K‌
 
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934
 
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): January 4, 2021

 
Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated
	
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)	

Florida	 	0-28274	 	56-1383460	
(State or other jurisdiction
of incorporation)	 	(Commission
File Number)	 	(IRS Employer
Identification No.)	
 	 	 	 	 	
400 North Ashley Drive, Suite 2800, Tampa, Florida	 	33602	
(Address of principal executive offices)	 	(Zip Code)	
 
Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (813) 274-1000

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report.)	
 
Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:
 
☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
 
☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
 
☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
 
☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
 
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
 
Title of each class	 	Trading Symbol(s)	 	Name of each exchange on which registered	
Common Stock, $0.01 par value	 	SYKE	 	NASDAQ Global Select Market	
 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (§240.12b-2 of this chapter).
 
Emerging growth company ☐
 
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

 
 
Item 8.01.  Other Events.‌
 
As previously announced, Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (“SYKES”) entered into a definitive agreement on December 20, 2020 to acquire Taylor Media Corporation, owner of The Penny Hoarder. On January 4, 2021, SYKES issued a press release announcing its completion of the acquisition of Taylor Media Corporation. The press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1.
 
Item 9.01.  Financial Statements and Exhibits.
 
(d) The following exhibits are included with this Report:
 
 	Exhibit 99.1	Press release, dated January 4, 2021, announcing the completion of the acquisition of Taylor Media Corporation, owner of the Penny Hoarder.	
 	Exhibit 104	The cover page from this Current Report on Form 8-K, formatted in Inline XBRL.	
 
(Remainder of page intentionally left blank.)

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SIGNATURE‌
 
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
 
 	 	SYKES ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED	
 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	By:	 	/s/ John Chapman	
 	 	 	 	John Chapman
Chief Finance Officer	
 	 	 	 	 	
Date: January 4, 2021	 	 	 	 	

 

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Exhibit 99.1
 	 
     News Release     

 news release
		
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	January 4, 2021	
 
SYKES ENTERPRISES, INCORPORATED,
COMPLETES THE PENNY HOARDER ACQUISITION
 
TAMPA, FL – January 4, 2021 – Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (“SYKES” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SYKE), a leading full life cycle provider of global customer engagement services, multichannel demand generation and digital transformation, today announced through its digital marketing subsidiary Clearlink the closing of the acquisition of Taylor Media Corporation, owner of The Penny Hoarder (“TPH”), a leading independent personal finance digital media company whose mission is delivering financial empowerment. As the Company indicated in a prior release announcing the transaction, this acquisition extends Clearlink’s existing leadership in home-services and insurance into the broader financial services industry, while also adding additional expertise in paid media marketing. Furthermore, through this acquisition, Clearlink will be gaining access to a portfolio of client logos, primarily market disruptors, within credit, investing, banking and insurance. The Company expects the acquisition to be accretive to 2021 diluted earnings per share and plans to quantify the accretion levels when it releases its fourth quarter 2020 financial results in February 2021.
 
About Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated
Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated (“SYKES” or “the Company”) is a leading provider of multi-channel demand generation and global customer engagement services. The Company provides differentiated full lifecycle customer engagement solutions and services primarily to Global 2000 companies and their end customers principally in the financial services, communications, technology, transportation & leisure and healthcare industries. SYKES’ differentiated full lifecycle management services platform effectively engages customers at every touchpoint within the customer journey, including digital marketing and acquisition, sales expertise, customer service, technical support and retention, many of which can be optimized by a suite of robotic process automation (“RPA”) and artificial intelligence (“AI”) solutions. The Company serves its clients through two geographic operating regions: the Americas (United States, Canada, Latin America, South Asia and Asia Pacific) and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa). Its Americas and EMEA regions primarily provide customer-engagement solutions and services with an emphasis on inbound multichannel demand generation, customer service and technical support to its clients’ customers. These services are delivered through multiple communication channels including phone, email, social media, text messaging, chat and digital self-service. The Company also provides various enterprise support services in the United States that include services for its clients’ internal support operations, from technical staffing services to outsourced corporate help desk services. In Europe, the Company provides fulfillment services, which includes order processing, payment processing, inventory control, product delivery and product returns handling. Additionally, through the acquisition of RPA provider Symphony Ventures Ltd (“Symphony”) coupled with its investment in AI through XSell Technologies, Inc. (“XSell”), the Company also provides a suite of solutions such as consulting, implementation, hosting and managed services that optimizes its differentiated full lifecycle management services platform. SYKES’ complete service offering helps its clients acquire, retain and increase the lifetime value of their customer relationships. The Company has developed an extensive global reach with customer engagement centers across six continents,

Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated
Corporate Headquarters:
400 North Ashley Drive
Tampa, FL  USA  33602
1 ∙ 800 ∙ TO ∙ SYKES
http://www.sykes.com

EMEA Operations
599 Calder Road
Edinburgh EH11 4GA
Scotland
+44 (0) 131 458-6500

 

 

 

 

 

 

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including North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa. It delivers cost-effective solutions that generate demand, enhance the customer service experience, promote stronger brand loyalty, and bring about high levels of performance and profitability. For additional information please visit www.sykes.com.
 
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain “forward-looking statements,” including SYKES’ estimates of its future business outlook, prospects or financial results. Statements regarding SYKES’ objectives, expectations, intentions, beliefs or strategies, or statements containing words such as “believe,” “estimate,” “project,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “anticipate,” “plans,” “seeks,” “implies,” or similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. It is important to note that SYKES’ actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements, and undue reliance should not be placed on such statements. Statements about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, operations, financial performance and prospects may constitute forward-looking statements and are subject to the risk that the actual impacts may differ, possibly materially, from what is reflected in those forward-looking statements due to factors and future developments that are uncertain, unpredictable and in many cases beyond our control, including the scope and duration of the pandemic, actions taken by governmental authorities in response to the pandemic, and the direct and indirect impact of the pandemic on our clients, third parties and us. Among the important factors that could cause such actual results to differ materially are (i) the impact of economic recessions in the U.S. and other parts of the world, (ii) fluctuations in global business conditions and the global economy, (iii) SYKES’ ability of maintaining margins, (iv) SYKES’ ability to continue the growth of its support service revenues through additional technical and customer engagement centers, (v) currency fluctuations, (vi) the timing of significant orders for SYKES’ products and services, (vii) loss or addition of significant clients, (viii) the early termination of contracts by clients, (ix) SYKES’ ability to recognize deferred revenue through delivery of products or satisfactory performance of services, (x) construction delays of new or expansion of existing customer engagement centers, (xi) difficulties or delays in implementing SYKES’ bundled service offerings, (xii) failure to achieve sales, marketing and other objectives, (xiii) variations in the terms and the elements of services offered under SYKES’ standardized contract including those for future bundled service offerings, (xiv) changes in applicable accounting principles or interpretations of such principles, (xv) delays in SYKES’ ability to develop new products and services and market acceptance of new products and services, (xvi) rapid technological change, (xvii) political and country-specific risks inherent in conducting business abroad, (xviii) SYKES’ ability to attract and retain key management personnel, (xix) SYKES’ ability to further penetrate into vertically integrated markets, (xx) SYKES’ ability to expand its global presence through strategic alliances and selective acquisitions, (xxi) SYKES’ ability to continue to establish a competitive advantage through sophisticated technological capabilities, (xxii) the ultimate outcome of any lawsuits or penalties (regulatory or otherwise), (xxiii) SYKES’ dependence on trends toward outsourcing, (xxiv) risk of interruption of technical and customer engagement center operations due to such factors as fire, earthquakes, inclement weather and other disasters, power failures, telecommunications failures, unauthorized intrusions, computer viruses and other emergencies, (xxv) the existence of substantial competition, (xxvi) the ability to obtain and maintain grants and other incentives, including tax holidays or otherwise, (xxvii) risks related to the integration of the businesses of SYKES, including the Qelp, Clearlink, WhistleOut, Symphony and Taylor Media Corporation  acquisitions and the impairment of any related goodwill, (xxviii) the ability to execute on initiatives to address inefficiencies around recruitment and retention in the U.S. and rationalize underutilized capacity methodically and (xxix) other risk factors listed from time to time in SYKES’ registration statements and reports as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements included in this press release are made as of the date hereof, and SYKES undertakes no obligation to update any such forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

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For additional information contact:
Subhaash Kumar
Sykes Enterprises, Incorporated
(813) 233-7143
 
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