Blog: A strategic acquisition - Korn Ferry to acquire Hay Group

Leadership Development

A strategic acquisition - Korn Ferry to acquire Hay Group

Korn Ferry, a prominent and renowned people & organizational advisory firm is all set to acquire HR consultancy firm, Hay Group, for a whopping $452 million
A strategic acquisition - Korn Ferry to acquire Hay Group

It’s an alliance of the giants.

Korn Ferry, a prominent and renowned people & organizational advisory firm is all set to acquire HR consultancy firm, Hay Group, for a whopping $452 million. This acquisition is aimed at splitting the company’s focus evenly between human capital management and recruiting. Through this acquisition, Korn Ferry International will now be providing services like organizational design, compensation and leadership development, in addition to hiring. It is set to double the size of its employee base and put the combined recruiting company into more than 50 countries.

This is the biggest of all Korn Ferry’s acquisitions. “We will know people better than anyone else,” CEO Gary Burnison said in an interview. With the Hay Group having made its mark in intellectual property, including several of the world's most comprehensive management databases, it has been instrumental in making organizations reach their highest aspirations and strategic goals by releasing the full power and potential of their people. Together, the firms will share some of the best and most comprehensive leadership, reward and engagement databases in the world to serve clients.

It is stipulated that Korn Ferry will now enjoy an unparalled ability to support the global business community not only in attracting top talent and designing compensation and reward incentives, but also with an integrated approach to the entire leadership and people continuum.

Gary D. Burnison, CEO of Korn Ferry in a statement said that "Without people, there is no show. Rockets didn't take us to the moon; it was the engineers and the dreamers. The Internet didn't create a globally networked economy; it was the innovators and creators. Since the beginning of time, people have been the ultimate differentiator. Yet today, this simple truth is all too often plastered on office walls, but rarely acted upon in the halls. We need a new conversation on people. That's why Korn Ferry is combining with Hay Group – knowing that when people align to a strategy and are developed and empowered to succeed, anything is possible. Korn Ferry, now with Hay Group, will be the preeminent global people and organizational advisory firm. We will be approximately 7,000 of the best and brightest minds of our industry who have a single goal - Unleashing the best and brightest people so that organizations around the world may reach their highest aspirations, strategic goals, and ultimate potential."

Adding to this, Stephen Kaye, CEO of Hay Group stated that "We are delighted to be joining Korn Ferry. We feel this is the perfect combination of two great firms that will be uniquely positioned to help clients achieve their strategic goals and highest aspirations. In Korn Ferry we have found a like-minded partner committed to enabling stellar business performance through people and organizational effectiveness. We are now witnessing an extraordinary transformation that will shape the future of work and the global business environment – united, we offer an incomparable capacity to help clients succeed in this new context."

Korn Ferry will combine Hay Group with Korn Ferry's Leadership and Talent Consulting (LTC) segment and brand the combined advisory business as Hay Group.

The terms of acquisition agreement can be read here

Read full story

Topics: Leadership Development, Talent Acquisition, #MergersAndAcquisitions

Did you find this story helpful?

Author

QUICK POLL

How do you envision AI transforming your work?