The share price of Telus International (TSX:TIXT) rose as much as 30% following its initial public offering (IPO) in Toronto and New York.
In New York, Telus International shares had an opening trade of $33.10 U.S. a share compared to its IPO price of $25 U.S. -- the high end of a range Telus Corp. (TSX:T) had identified. That suggests strong institutional demand for the stock.
Telus International has grown from a provider of customer contact-centre services for other companies, to a big, diverse digital services company that today provides services to more than 600 clients, including marquee names such as Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Uber (NYSE:UBER) and TikTok. Those services now include things such as app development, fraud protection and social media monitoring.
In its final prospectus, the company said it posted 17% revenue growth in the first nine months of 2020, and plans to keep growing through acquisitions, new clients and deeper relationships with existing clients.
Telus International is also waiting for U.S. regulators to sign of on its acquisition of Lionbridge AI, a company that specializes in artificial intelligence learning by “tagging” data with information that helps AI systems to better understand the flows of data they take in.
American regulators extended their review by a further 45 days, but Telus International has told investors it believes the deal will receive approval without conditions. Telus Corp. will retain voting control over Telus International through its ownership of multi-voting shares.
