WinterWyman Acquired by the Planet Group

November 22, 2019 – The Planet Group, a portfolio company of MidOcean Partners and provider of outsourced human capital and consulting solutions, has entered into an agreement to acquire Waltham, MA-based executive search firm WinterWyman. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Michael Stomberg, CEO of Planet, said the acquisition aligns with Planet’s strategic initiative to provide a full suite of consulting and strategic resourcing solutions to its global client base.

“This is a landmark deal for Planet as we continue to follow our expansion strategy,” he said. “WinterWyman’s current service offerings complement Planet’s existing workforce solutions and the addition provides significant cross-selling opportunities. The combination of these two businesses further strengthens Planet’s rapidly growing position in the industry as a provider of choice offering a comprehensive suite of professional staffing and consulting services.”

WinterWyman will continue to be led by current CEO Scott Ragusa, who has been with the company since 1999. “We’re proud of all we have accomplished at WinterWyman during our 47-year history and excited about our future with The Planet Group,” said Mr. Ragusa. “We look forward to continued growth and success as part of this prestigious organization.”

MidOcean Partners, a premier middle market private equity firm, made a significant investment in Planet in 2018 to escalate the company’s strategic initiatives and drive continued growth. Planet will look to continue accelerating its expansion through future M&A activity.

The Planet Group is a diversified professional services organization focused on providing high-value outsourced human capital solutions and niche consulting services to Fortune 500 and other leading clients. The Planet Group consists of seven related entities and has been purposefully built to address the professional services needs of leading companies in the life sciences, diversified energy and engineering, healthcare and digital marketing industries. The company was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Chicago.

WinterWyman has been advising an expanding client base for more than four decades. The firm supports leading organizations, from start-ups to some of the most recognized global brands. For more than 45 years, WinterWyman has helped thousands of companies – from the Fortune 500 to cutting-edge start-ups – identify, attract and recruit talented professionals.

Earlier this year, WinterWyman named Mr. Ragusa as CEO, succeeding Bob Boudreau, who held the top post since 2002. Mr. Ragusa was previously president of WinterWyman’s contract staffing and contingency search businesses. He joined WinterWyman in 1999 after more than five years with two national temporary search firms.

Acquisitions

A number of private equity, staffing and advisory companies have acquired executive search firms over the past year. Here’s a sampling from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

Professional services firm SolomonEdwardsGroup acquired QUAD656, a certified women-owned executive search firm in the Delaware Valley with offices in Wayne, PA and Mount Laurel, NJ. Since 2001, QUAD656 has been recruiting and placing senior talent across multiple disciplines, adding recruiting strength and a robust client base to SolomonEdwards’ existing portfolio. In return, the QUAD656 team is expected to benefit from SolomonEdwards’ infrastructure in marketing, salesforce automation, IT and HR administration.

LandrumHR, a Pensacola, FL-headquartered full-service human resources firm, acquired hrQ in Denver. The HR sector is hrQ’s bailiwick. The firm focuses exclusively on providing HR professionals for short- or long-term contract assignments and full- time hires as well as offering expertise on a variety of human resource consulting projects. 

Consulting and people solutions business, New Street Group, acquired London-based search and leadership consultancy Wickland Westcott. Wickland. With over 40 years of experience, Wickland Westcott blends commercial judgement with psychological expertise to enhance organizational and individual performance.

Aleron Group, a global workforce and business solutions company, acquired TalentRISE effective immediately. Founded in 2008, TalentRISE supports companies in nearly every vertical — retail, manufacturing, technology, financial services, healthcare, life sciences, e-commerce, and more — with custom and comprehensive talent acquisition solutions. 

The Power of Talent Ltd. (Bidco), an entity owned and controlled by investment funds managed by DBAY Advisors, has made a £98.7 million bid to acquire London-based recruitment firm Harvey Nash. David Morrison, investment director of DBAY, said his firm was pleased to have reached agreement with the Independent Harvey Nash directors.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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