HCM Acquisition News - January & February 2024

Every week I document recruiting and HR tech M&A announcements. I add one takeaway from each deal, then share the list with you.

Why? I receive multiple recruiting and HR tech newsletters each day. These cover so many topics, I struggle to keep up with all the headlines and to quickly find the M&A stories I care about most. (You may feel the same).

So, I compile a weekly list of “Who? acquired Who?” This edition covers North America M&A news so far this year 😉: 

January Deals

LAK Group acquires exec search Firm Spano Pratt - Executive search.
Takeaway: Exec search expands LAK’s services alongside HR & recruitment consulting services.

Metavesco Delays Acquistion of Laborsmart and Epic Labor- Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: Q4 2023 performance declined for Laborsmat and Epic, which halted this deal. If "time kills deals" this one may be hard for Metavesco to want to keep pursuing.

DCI Consulting acquires affirmative action solutions provider - Workplace consulting.
Takeaway: A classic acquihire. DCI expands their affirmative action consulting practice, adds employees, and can now cross-sell additional services to HR Specialties existing customers.

Sinecure.AI acquires exec eearch firm Grace Blue Partnership - HR Tech & Exec Search.
Takeaway: Both companies were partners prior to the deal. This follows a trend of recruitment platforms and service providers coming together.

Volaris acquires Metadados - HR Tech
Takeaway: Volaris is an operating group within Constellation Software, a $5B Canadian publicly traded company. Volaris buys and holds global software businesses across all industries and is very active in M&A (they've acquired 4 companies so far in 2024).

HUDDL3 Group / LEAD3R acquires Enspira - Workplace Consulting & Search.
Takeaway: HUDDL3 is a family office that invests in HCM businesses. Enspira will tuck-in to their existing search & consulting brand LEAD3R and if they dont abandon the brand, my guess is they will change the spelling to 3NSPIRA.

Recruiter.com Sells Domain Name to Job Mobz - ($1.8M Purchase) Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: Recruiter.com has been "selling for parts" over the past 24 months. The domain sale appears to be the final piece to go before the company takes on a new brand and direction.

Aya acquired UK based ID Medical - Healthcare staffing.
Takeaway: The largest healthcare staffing provider in the US expands their UK presence.

Re-Sourcing acquired by MidOean Partners - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: Lots of movement in the past four years. In 2020, McNally Capital acquires Re-Sourcing. They consolidate from 6 brands to 3. Re-Sourcing then acquires Conexus in January 2023. MidOceans acquires the four brands in 2024.

Elwood Staffing acquires Belflex Staffing - Commercial Staffing.
Takeaway: One family-owned business sold to another. Sellers without a succession plan want to see their company in good hands with alike culture and management.

Emerson Group acquires The Job Exchange - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: These companies partnered/collaborated and built a trusting relationship over many years before committing to an acquisition.

Otta acquired by Welcome to the Jungle - Employer Branding & IT.
Takeaway: Fresh off a 50M EUR raise, Welcome To The Jungle acquires a platform that helps match tech professionals to jobs.

Bullhorn acquires Mployee to expand Salesforce-based offerings - HR Tech / Staffing Software.
Takeaway: After taking 2023 off, Bullhorn starts the year with their first deal. Expect them to continue to be active acquirers this year. They've averaged 2 deasl/yr since 2017.

February Deals

eloomi acquired by Dayforce - HR Tech.
Takeaway: Ceridians platform, Dayforce, touches all parts of the employee lifecycle. The addition of eloomi brings a learning and development solution making Dayforce even more engrained within it's customers HR practices.

Legerity acquired by AArete - IT Consulting.
Takeaway: Aarete adds specialized IT consulting practices for niche platforms (Pega, QNXT, Facets). This strategy is like the barnacle attaching itself to the whale.

MarathonHR Services acquired by VensureHR - HR Tech.
Takeaway: This was Vensure's 69th acquisition in six years...wow.

Tandym acquires Kolter Solutions - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: This is Tandym's (fka The ExecuSearch Group) fourth deal in two years. Tandym was acquired by Millrock PE in 2H 2021.

True Advance acquired by True Platform - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: True acquires exec coaching and assessment firm Bleeker. Rebrands to True Advance. This becomes one more service True can bring to their search, staffing, data insights, and DEI offerings.

SkillPointe acquired by NACCE - ($6M valuation) HR Tech.
Takeaway: Skillpointe is donated to the National Associate for Community College Entrepreneurship to help connect young professionals with thousands of training programs offerred by community colleges.

INSPYR acquires Advantis Global - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: Advantis Global revenue is $100M according to SIA. Inspyr was created via the 2022 merger between TekPartners and Genuent Holdings.

Bonrepublic acquired by HRworks - HR Tech.
Takeaway: PE backed HR tech platform acquires comparable talent management platform to expand SME client base.

Gritly acquired by interviewIA - HR Tech.
Takeaway: InterviewIA's healthcare division acquires a diverse talent marketplace to create new offering for HC clients.

Untapped acquired by Podium Education - HR Tech.
Takeaway: Skill development platform brings in a DEI focused hiring platform to expand services.

S.I. Systems acquires HVN Solutions - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: One of the largest staffing firms in Canada accquires a tuck in IT staffing practice that also brings a "solutions" offering. Bringing in solutions or consulting providers is one way staffing firms aim to skirt around MSP/VMS barriers.

PeopleReady Canada division sold to Ontario based staffing firm - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: Parent company TrueBlue wanted to divest one of their Canadian divisions to focus on core US operations. This is an interesting move likely tied to the 2023 performance challenges most staffing firms experienced and the immediate need to improve the financial profile of the business.

Deel acquires Zavvy - HR Tech.
Takeaway: Zavvy finds a natural landing spot for their L&D features/tools within Deel's very broad people management platform. The deal closed less than two years after Zavvy raised $4M. Feels like a good outcome for a startup that would likely need more capital in a not so favorable market.

Active Staffing acquires OnStaff, closing in on $100M - Recruitment & Staffing.
Takeaway: Active Staffing is actively acquiring. This is Active's fourth acquisition in 24 months. They are purusing a growth via acquisition and nearing closer to $100M in revenue.

First Advantage acquires Sterling - ($2.2B Purchase) Background & Screening Tech.
Takeaway: The deal provides both companies more revenue diversification, more industries served, more geographies, and more eanrings after significant cost synergies. Seems like wins all around.

If I missed any deals, please let me know with a reply.

ALSO, if you ever want your company name to appear in one of these headlines, The LongBoard Group would love to help!

More deals to come Friday.