Founder back as owner, leader of Clearlink

Provo-based Clarke Capital Partners and telemarketing and business process outsourcing services company Sitel Group of Miami have formed a partnership to assume management of Salt Lake City’s Clearlink. Under the agreement, Clark Capital has bought a significant interest in Clearlink, the company said. Clark Capital said the intent is drive the growth of Clearlink as a tech-enabled, omnichannel platform that empowers customers to make well-informed decisions around daily purchases.

The partnership will also bring back James Clarke as CEO and chairman of Clearlink, a company he founded in his basement just weeks after Sept. 11, 2001. He will rejoin partners James Harrison, who will act as president, and James Thayer, who will act as head of operations.

“Of the countless opportunities that we see, we could never have imagined that something as special as this partnership would come our way,” said Clarke, who also founded Clarke Capital Partners. “Clearlink certainly isn’t the same as when we sold in 2011 — and neither are we. We are much better prepared to accelerate growth and execute untapped strategies having now scaled several technology-enabled retail businesses beyond the size of present-day Clearlink.”

“Partnering with Clarke Capital enables Sitel Group to focus on the core of what we do: supporting our customers and partners by providing the highest quality of customer experience management and delivery in the industry,” said Laurent Uberti, president, CEO and co-founder of Sitel Group. “This partnership will see Sitel Group continue to support its 160,000 employees across the globe with offices in 40 countries, serving 700-plus clients in over 50 languages.”

Clarke Capital Partners is a strategy-focused private investment firm that partners with management teams to create growth opportunities. It has partnered with companies like Brandless.com, PetIQ Inc., PetPremium.com, PetAssistant.com, Contour and Jupiter Acquisition Corp.