Caldwell Forms Alliance with Johnson Partners
March 9, 2022 – Toronto-based Caldwell has forged an international alliance partnership with Johnson Partners, a consulting firm working in board search, executive search, and leadership succession with offices across Australia. In connection with the alliance, Johnson Partners has acquired the business of Caldwell’s non-owned New Zealand licensee, and integrated Caldwell’s Australian team. Johnson Partners will become Caldwell’s external search partner for Australia and New Zealand, and Caldwell will become Johnson Partners’ external search partner for North America and the U.K.
“Johnson Partners is one of the region’s most successful and influential executive search firms, widely recognized for their long-lasting collaborative partnerships with clients,” said Chris Beck, president of Caldwell. “This reciprocal alliance is beneficial in several ways. First, it will allow us to jointly conduct transformative searches across the globe at the very highest levels of management and operations, with a keen eye towards delivering outstanding outcomes for our clients. Second, we believe this considerable expansion with the Johnson Partners team will drive greater worldwide revenue opportunities for Caldwell, further creating value for our shareholders.”
“Caldwell’s breadth and reputation for combining innovative technology with outcome-oriented service and high-level expertise makes them the ideal organization to partner with on a global basis” said Jason Johnson, managing partner of Johnson Partners. “This is a ground-breaking agreement for our firm, enabling us to be the leading board advisory and executive search firm with premier capability, track record, and performance in Australasia, and opening up collaborative opportunities with Caldwell’s partner teams in the Americas and Europe.”
“Similarly, this gives Caldwell expanded reach into Asia-Pacific through a partnership with a leading firm that is expanding in the region,” Mr. Johnson said. “This ensures a global network well positioned to support our clients for international cross-border work at board, chief executive, and C-suite levels.”
As Caldwell’s New Zealand operation was a licensee relationship and not owned, there was no consideration between Caldwell and Johnson Partners with respect to the transaction. Caldwell’s licensing agreement with Caldwell New Zealand has been cancelled and succeeded by the international affiliate partnership with Johnson Partners.
New Addition
In December, Caldwell expanded its private equity and technology recruiting capabilities with the addition of Gordon Berridge as a partner in the private equity & venture capital and technology practices and based in the firm’s London office. Mr. Berridge joins Caldwell from N2Growth in London where, as a senior partner, he was a key figure in the build-out of the European business for the firm.
“With a 12-year track record of successful executive search assignments for technology and software-focused executives across the U.K., Europe, and North America, Gordon is an incredible addition to the Caldwell team,” said Jim Bethmann, managing partner of Caldwell’s technology practice. “He provides tailored talent solutions to clients in the growth and private equity space, focusing on hiring investors, operations executives, and portfolio leadership and board advisors in the technology and software sectors. His reputation for unparalleled dedication to his clients precedes him and will expand the reach of our practice and our ability to support our clients’ growth ambitions.”
Recent Acquisition
Caldwell recently acquired Applied Behavioral Academy (ABA), a behavioral and cognitive psychometrics consultancy that leverages highly respected, results-driven tools to assess talent and to align people and business strategies. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Coincident with the acquisition, Caldwell expanded its alliance with The Predictive Index (PI), launching Caldwell Analytics as a PI Master Certified Training Center, delivering programs and workshops to train clients and other PI Certified Partners and their clients on all aspects of PI that initiate immediate transformation in their organizations.
“As Caldwell continues its transformational growth trajectory, the integration of the Applied Behavioral Academy team represents another important step forward for us,” said John Wallace, CEO of Caldwell. “Our focus and priority is to connect our clients with transformational talent, delivering long-term improvement to their enterprise, and increasing value to our shareholders. The added capabilities at both executive and enterprise levels that ABA brings to Caldwell will help our clients apply the same data-driven analytical rigor in their approach to talent acquisition and performance as they do in their financial and operational decisions.”
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
