Business process outsourcing company Sykes Enterprises Inc (SYKE.O) said it plans to acquire ICT Group Inc (ICTG.O), a provider of customer management and BPO services, for about $263 million in a cash-and-stock deal, to increase scale and expand its global reach.

As per the deal Sykes will pay $15.38 for each ICT share, Sykes said in a statement.

The price represents a premium of 46 percent to ICT's closing price Monday on Nasdaq.

The move comes amid a wave of consolidation in the IT services sector. In September, Xerox Corp (XRX.N) said it will buy Affiliated Computer Services Inc (ACS.N) in a deal valued at about $5.5 billion and Dell Inc (DELL.O) said it plans to buy Perot Systems Corp (PER.N) for about $3.9 billion.

The Sykes-ICT transaction is expected to close around the end of 2009.

Sykes expects to realize synergies of up to $20 million annually. The combined company is expected to generate revenue of $1.2 billion.

Excluding costs associated with the ICT deal and on a stand-alone basis, Sykes expects to exceed the top end of its third-quarter earnings outlook of 31 cents to 34 cents a share.

Sykes shares closed at $20.15 Monday on Nasdaq.

Dell