Hudson Global Rebrands and Relocates to Connecticut

January 10, 2019 – Talent solutions provider Hudson Global Inc. has changed its operating brand name from Hudson to Hudson RPO. The company also launched a new brand identity, logo, website (http://www.hudsonrpo.com) and investor relations presentation as part of the change. In addition, Hudson RPO relocated its corporate headquarters from New York City to Old Greenwich, Conn, a move that will reduce its annual rent by more than 80 percent.

The change completes a strategic realignment process launched several years ago to focus on the company’s core recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) business. The process culminated in the sale of all the company’s agency recruitment and talent management operations in Europe and Asia Pacific in three transactions earlier this year.

“RPO is our core business because it offers a compelling value proposition for our clients, as well as strong growth potential for our stockholders,” said Jeff Eberwein, CEO. “The size of the current global RPO market is an estimated $5 billion and is projected to grow 10 to 15 percent annually going forward.”

“In our RPO business, we focus on partnering with our clients to design recruitment and talent solutions to support their strategic growth objectives, and we are delighted to introduce our new operating brand name, logo and website to showcase our vision of powering client success through our total talent solutions,” he said.

RPO Services

The company first offered RPO as a service in 1999 to a global pharmaceutical company in Australia, and since 2010 industry analysts and RPO clientele have recognized Hudson RPO as a top global RPO provider. Hudson RPO ranked among HRO Today’s “Baker’s Dozen for 2018,” marking the ninth consecutive year Hudson RPO made this list of the top RPO providers in the world.

“Now that the company’s strategic realignment is complete, we are increasing our investment in people and technology to enhance our innovation and subject matter expertise, and to best meet our clients’ growth initiatives,” said Mr. Eberwein. “Our vision is to be the top RPO provider of professional roles in the industry.”

Given the projected growth of the RPO industry over the coming years, the company said that it is committed to investing in its RPO business to capitalize on the favorable market trends. In addition to its internal investments, the company said that it will consider profitable, bolt-on acquisition opportunities in 2019, after it has finished building out the new platform for its operating business.

This year, Hudson RPO said it expects to grow gross profit more than 10 percent vs. 2018, and that adjusted EBITDA before corporate costs should grow faster than this rate. Such growth, along with the decline in corporate costs, should enable the company to generate positive adjusted EBITDA in 2019, said the company. Longer term, Hudson RPO said it intends to grow its RPO business in line with industry growth, or faster, and for adjusted EBITDA margins to approach 20 percent of gross profit at the RPO division level, while holding corporate costs flat. “Successfully achieving this goal should allow corporate-level adjusted EBITDA margins as a percentage of gross profit to approach the mid-teens range,” the company said.

New Leadership

Last year, Hudson Global appointed its chairman, Mr. Eberwein, as the firm’s new CEO. He replaced Stephen A. Nolan. Richard K. Coleman Jr., Hudson’s compensation committee chairman, is now chairman of the board. Mr. Eberwein has more than 20 years of Wall Street experience and public company and financial expertise through both his job history and directorships. Most recently, he served as CEO of Lone Star Value Management, an investment firm he founded in 2013.

“Since Jeff joined Hudson’s board in 2014, he has set the strategic direction for the board and the company and implemented a series of changes to improve governance and enhance stockholder value,” said Mr. Coleman. “He has the strategic and financial experience and leadership skills to serve as our next CEO. As the company focuses on its global RPO business, we have confidence that Jeff will drive performance and execution at Hudson and ensure we continue Hudson’s legacy of exceptional customer service.”

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

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