Teleperformance announced Thursday that it will buy the assets of AOL's Ogden call center facility and that it will provide AOL with call center outsourcing services starting on or about Dec. 16.

The financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close on Dec. 16, were not disclosed.

"AOL is a great client and partner, and this agreement makes a great deal of sense for both parties," Dominic Dato, chief executive officer of Teleperformance USA, said in a prepared statement.

Teleperformance USA, the domestic customer service and call center brand under the Teleperformance umbrella, is headquartered in Salt Lake City. The company has 22 facilities across the country, including three existing centers in Utah.

The Teleperformance announcement came a day after AOL said it hoped to finalize negotiations to sell the assets at its Ogden facility as part of its previously announced restructuring plan. AOL also said Wednesday that it will lay off about 1,400 workers and close call centers in New Mexico and Arizona as part of that plan.

The restructuring plan, announced in August, called for significant work force reductions — a quarter of Virginia-based AOL's global work force, by some estimates — by early 2007.

Earlier this week, AOL spokesman Nicholas J. Graham told the Deseret Morning News that the company believed it had "been able to find a different process that will allow for continued employment for our employees in Ogden. We're not through (with negotiations) yet, but the Ogden process is one we're hopeful for."

The Ogden facility currently employs about 400 workers. In a joint statement released Thursday, neither Teleperformance USA nor AOL commented on how many of those workers will find work with Teleperformance.

Mark Pfeiffer, Teleperformance USA spokesman, said that information was not immediately available.

Dato said Teleperformance is "really thrilled to be welcoming many experienced AOL people to the Teleperformance team." AOL executive vice president Scott Falconer said his organization was "extremely pleased we were able to find a strong partner with a well-established presence in Utah to buy the assets in our Ogden center and offer employment opportunities to the majority of our highly professional member services staff."

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