Joint Venture

Telefonica SA
10 July 2000


                      ATENTO ENTERS THE JAPANESE MARKET

* Atento has created a joint-venture with the Japanese company Pasona with a
view to start offering customer relationship management services (CRM) and
Internet call centre.

* The new company, in which Atento is to hold a controlling interest, will be
called Atento Pasona Inc.

* Thanks to this agreement, Atento is already providing Latin American, European
and Asian markets with its services.

* Pasona is the market-leading company in Japan in the field of company
outsourcing services.

TOKYO (Japan), 7 July, 2000. - Atento, the Telefonica Group member company
providing customer relationship management services (call centres and CRM
(customer relationship management) solutions) has entered into a joint-venture
agreement with the Japanese company Pasona, with a view to establishing a new
company, due to start operations in the Japanese market by November of this
year. The agreement has been signed by Rafael Hernandez, Chief Executive Officer
of Atento, and Hayao Nakayama, Chairman of the Board of Pasona. As a result of
this operation, Atento and the Telefonica Group at large, have broadened their
area of business to include the Asian market.

The agreement envisages the establishment of a new company, in which both
parties to the agreement are to invest and in which Atento is to hold the
controlling interest, to be called Atento Pasona Inc. The aim of this company is
no other than becoming the leader in all-round customer services in the Japanese
market, making the most of Pasona's knowledge of the local market as well as of
the technology, the range of advance services, global presence and economies of
size contributed by Atento. The new company will not be limiting itself to the
Japanese market, for the very agreement now signed foresees the joint
exploitation of this line of business in Asia and in the Pacific Basin area. The
initial investment amounts to 20 million dollars and it will enable the new
concern to set up 3 new centres in Japan in the first year of its operation,
with a total installed capacity of 1500 new positions.

The call centre and CRM services market in japan amounts to more than 10% of the
world turnover for this line of business and the growth rates, for the Asian
market as a whole, are expected to reach 30% per annum over the nest few years.
On the other hand, the low level of outsourcing concerning this type of services
in Japan, as well as the existence of a large unsatisfied demand of value-added
services and of those based on new technologies, together with the
liberalization currently under way in industries such as finance and insurance,
provide huge possibilities for growth in the Asian market.

With this agreement, Atento substantially adds to its global presence, which is
crucial when it comes to remaining world leaders in this business segment.

Atento, a Telefonica Group member based in Miami, is the biggest company in the
world in the field of call centre and CRM services, with operations in Europe,
America and Northern Africa. Nowadays, Atento has almost 50 centres in operation
all over the world with a current capacity of 20.000 positions, its growth plans
envisaging to exceed the number of 30.000 positions by the year 2000-2001. Its
customer portfolio includes, among others, telecommunication and electricity
supply companies, financial institutions, insurance companies, government bodies
and new-economy companies, such as those engaged in the Internet and e-commerce.
The range of products provided for its customers includes CRM solutions,
value-added services, Internet services and web-enabled call centres, in
addition to overall customer-management consulting services.

Pasona Inc, is the biggest staffing-services company in Japan and one of the
biggest in the world. Its yearly level of earnings exceeds one billion dollars;
it employs more than 550.000 staff and has over 150 offices in 15 countries.


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