Recruitment sector M&A activity quarterly update

14 July 2022

The human capital sector continues to perform strongly in terms of M&A deals activity with a further 13 deals completed in the second quarter of 2022. This is a 30 per cent increase on the number of deals completed in the sector in the second quarter of 2021 and equals deal activity in the first quarter of 2022.

For the year to date, there was a total of 26 deals in the first half of the year, which is down by 11 per cent compared to the same period in 2021. However, the first quarter of 2021 was an exceptional period, driven by a rebound in deal activity post-Covid which led to a back log of deals.

Private Equity deals accounted for approximately 30 per cent of deals completed in the second quarter of 2022. This is down from 46 per cent in the first quarter of this year, but still demonstrates private equity’s continued interest in the sector, which is partly driven by the vast amount of uninvested private equity capital.

Transactions

The below table details the transactions occurring within the UK human capital space in Q2 of 2022, with private equity deals shown in bold: 

The recruitment sector continues to be highly active, which is starting to be realised in completed deals. We expect this to accelerate in the second half of the year as the exceptional pipeline starts to flow through. 

In particular, we are seeing that technology is performing strongly and what is also interesting is the breadth of sectors active - from industrials and vehicle drivers to legal services, education and healthcare. This mirrors what we are continuing to see in terms of pipeline as skills shortages persist across the industry.

Jonathan Wade – Corporate Finance Partner, RSM

 

Transaction date  Company Target Description Investors
June 2022 Brownlee Dean   Provider of recruitment consultancy services Tech Search Associates
June 2022 Jump.Work  Operator of a legal service-based talent-hiring platform  Jobandtalent
June 2022 CPower Energy Provider of recruitment services to construction and O&M phases of onshore and offshore wind farms C.W. Obel, Semco Maritime
June 2022 Business HR Solutions (Consultancy) Provider of human resources consultancy and compliance services Marlowe
June 2022 Just IT Training Provider of training and recruitment services specialized in serving the information technology sector Back2Work (backed by Palatine Private Equity)
June 2022 K2 Partnering Solutions Provider of outsourced information technology management and staffing services Inflexion Private Equity Partners
May 2022 Harnham Search and Selection Provider of recruitment services to the data & analytics sector Business Growth Fund
May 2022 Exact Education Provider of recruiting services to the education sector Humly
May 2022 Balmoral Healthcare Provider of recruitment services to the healthcare sector Individual
May 2022 HireHand Operator of an intelligent staffing platform Reverence
May 2022 KHS Personnel Provider of recruitment services and staffing solutions Jarell Group
April 2022 Driver Hire Group Services Provider of recruiting services to the transport and logistics sector Pricoa Private Capital
April 2022 Tyzack Partners Provider of executive search services The MitchelLake Group

Disclaimer: the above information has been aggregated from information within the public domain (sources: PitchBook, Mergermarket) and RSM has made no attempt to verify its accuracy or completeness.

For more information, please contact Jonathan Wade.