IHS to invest US$8m in Penang centre of excellence

Posted on 30 September 2011 - 12:12am

GEORGE TOWN (Sept 30, 2011)

 IHS Inc, a US-based business process outsourcing (BPO) company, has picked Penang to set up a centre of excellence for the Asia-Pacific, with an initial investment of US$8 million (RM25.44 million).

The centre, located at Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah here, is expected to be operational by December and will initially have 20 employees.

IHS CEO Jerre L. Stead said the investment will be raised to US$50 million and the workforce to some 1,600 people by 2015.

"The centre of excellence will be the largest IHS centre in the world and will be staffed and led by locals. For us, it's always locals as I believe it is the only way to success," he told a press conference yesterday.

Also present were Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, IHS Asia-Pacific human resource vice-president Paul McAvoy, CFO Richard Walker, and InvestPenang executive committee chairman Datuk Lee Kah Choon and general manager Loo Lee Lian.

Lim said IHS' entry into Penang would help the state achieve its aim of becoming an intelligent and international city.

The company is one of the world's leading sources of information and insight providers and was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2005.

IHS, which expects to post a revenue of US$1.3 billion for the financial year ending Nov 30, 2011, provides information on industries such as energy and power, oil and gas, design and supply chain, defence, risk and security, environmental, health and safety and sustainability, country and industry forecasting and commodities.

It has been in business since 1959 with its headquarters in Englewood, Colorado, USA and employs more than 5,000 people in more than 30 countries.