Market Watch: Recruitment Sector M&A activity in Q3 2023
The outlook for M&A activity in the recruitment and staffing sector remains resilient despite looming economic uncertainties. After a noticeable dip in Q2, deal completion activity saw an uptick in Q3 of 2023. Recruitment Transactions International tracked as many as 74 deals (including 53 exits) between July and September this year.
Ep 8 – Jeff Kaye on Building a Game-Changing Investment Ecosystem for Recruiters
What does a textbook, perfect post-merger integration of a recruitment & staffing business look like? Jeff Kaye, Managing Director at Starfish Partners, who may just have the perfect case study. For our 8th podcast, RTI Managing Partner speaks with Jeff about building a comprehensive investment ecosystem that can change the way recruitment firms scale and create value for exits.
Jeff draws on his vast experience as a recruiter, entrepreneur, and investor who has spent over three decades building businesses and investing in the recruitment industry, including his involvement with K Bassman, the largest single-site search business in the US, and Next Level Exchange, a recruiting training and consulting organization. He also discusses the growth of Sanford Rose Associates, a franchise he acquired in 2012, and his current role as Managing Director at Starfish Partners.
Starfish Partners, an international investment and ownership platform for niched professional and mid-to-upper management search specialists, provides capital for recruiting firms looking to scale as well as exit strategies for owners seeking to secure value for their firm in cash and/or stock.
Explainer: Are Debt-backed MBOs becoming a more viable option for recruitment & staffing companies to grow and scale?
Some recruitment business leaders are opting for debt amidst pressured multiple valuations in the face of global uncertainty.
Management Buyouts (MBO) are a viable option to buy out existing strategic and PE investors or where an existing owner wishes to hand over the reins to his senior leadership team, perhaps at the point of retirement or with other interests in mind.
Ep 7 – Lugera’s Gerard Koolen: Meet the Maverick of Recruitment M&As
Recruitment Transactions International is the first global matching platform for buyers, investors, and sellers in the recruitment and staffing industry. Our seventh podcast comes out of the left field as RTI Managing Partner Simon Childs talks shop with the enigmatic entrepreneur, Gerard Koolen, Group Managing Partner of Lugera. In this episode, Gerard shares his experiences as an entrepreneur who has built a powerhouse portfolio of brands in a challenging region that includes Russia and Ukraine.
Gerard co-founded Lugera in 1996 in Trencin, Slovakia. The idea was to build a great staffing agency and help as many people as possible with better jobs. The company now has more than 400 employees across 33 offices in 11 countries. In addition to Ukraine, it is in the United Kingdom, Armenia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark in the Netherlands, Romania, Morocco, and Slovakia. In 2014, as part of the international expansion of Lugera, it acquired GIT in the Czech Republic, and at the end of 2016, Adecco Ukraine and Adecco Russia. In 2019, Adecco Morocco also joined the Lugera family.
News Release: New York-based Kingsley Gate Partners acquires London-based The Omerta Group
Kingsley Gate Partners, an executive search firm based in New York City, acquired The Omerta Group, a London-headquartered executive search firm focused on financial services.
Ep 6 – Enter the Dragon’s Den: Inside the Amazing World of Recruitment M&A Legend James Caan
Recruitment Transactions International is the first global matching platform for buyers, investors and sellers in the recruitment and staffing industry. For our sixth podcast and first for 2023, RTI Managing Partner Simon Childs speaks with former Dragon’s Den ‘Dragon’ James Caan on what worked, what could have been done differently through his legendary career in recruitment, staffing and outsourcing. He offers unique insights into the world of recruitment M&As from his vast experience as a founder, seller, buyer and investor.
Ep 5 – Banking on Recruitment M&As: The Entrepreneurial Journey of Shark Tank ‘Shark’ Andrew Banks
In our fifth podcast, RTI Managing Partner Simon Childs speaks with former Shark Tank ‘Shark’ Andrew Banks on his unique entrepreneurial journey, from his roots as a Shakespearean actor to his successful transition to recruiter, entrepreneur and investor par excellence.
Ep 4 – Recruitment M&As in Japan, making multiple exits and the pivot to HR Tech – with Nick Johnston
In our fourth podcast, RTI Managing Partner Simon Childs speaks with Nick Johnston on his remarkable journey of starting, building and selling a recruitment business in Japan, his pivot to recruitment and HR tech investing, and making a string of successful multiple exits along the way.
Ep 3 – Starting, growing and selling the first and largest search firm in China – with Louisa Wong
Recruitment Transactions International is the first global matching platform for buyers, investors and sellers in the recruitment and staffing industry. In our second podcast, RTI Director Simon Childs speaks with Louisa Wong on “Starting, growing and selling the first and largest search firm in China.”