Kingsley Gate Partners Acquires Latin American Search Firm
April 2, 2019 – Acquisitions continue to make big news in the executive search industry. In an effort to expand its global presence, Kingsley Gate Partners recently acquired Latin American executive search firm CPGroup Latam. Financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.
“We’re excited to welcome our Latin American colleagues,” said Nancy Albertini, senior partner, Office of the CEO, Kingsley Gate Partners. “Our growth strategy supports the needs of our global clients by providing them with functional and vertical expertise, as well as access to professionals that bring local knowledge to the table.”
Through this acquisition, Kingsley Gate Partners adds 14 partners across eight offices including Bogota, Colombia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Caracas, Venezuela; Lima, Peru; Mexico City, Mexico; São Paulo, Brazil; Santiago de Chile; and Miami, FL. CPGroup Latam previously operated under an affiliation agreement with Caldwell, which was mutually terminated earlier this year.
“With this acquisition, Kingsley Gate Partners will bring the technology and science that is revolutionizing the executive search industry to this important, growing region,” said Umesh Ramakrishnan, senior partner, OCEO.
Buster Houchins, senior partner, OCEO, said the acquisition simply made sense. “Having worked previously with many of CPGroup’s partners, it became an easy decision to pursue this acquisition,” he said. “We share the same values and business ethics, including a passion for leveraging science and technology in servicing the needs of our global clients.”
Nestor D’Angelo, senior partner in Latin America at CPGroup Latam, said the fit between the two firms was obvious. “The executive search industry is going through a major transformation, and Kingsley Gate Partners is leading that change by combining science and technology with savvy, experienced executive search consultants,” he said. “We have an in-depth understanding of Latin America, coupled with state-of-the-art cloud-based mobile tools developed by Kingsley Gate Partners, which will help ensure a lasting fit between our clients and our placed candidates.”
Founded in 2006, Kingsley Gate Partners recruits senior leadership for private equity and venture capital portfolio businesses and Fortune 100 companies. Headquartered in Dallas, the firm employs consultants and recruiters with expertise in private equity, life sciences, technology manufacturing and professional services. Its clients include Best Buy, CenturyLink, Ernst & Young, Here, Ford, Ingram Micro, Medtronic, Neustar, Veritas and Warburg Pincus.
Continued Expansion
Kingsley Gate recently named Magui Castro as a senior partner. She is based in the firm’s London office. Ms. Castro has a deep background in retained executive search, specializing in recruiting C-level executives across the consumer, retail and life sciences sectors. She joined the firm from Caldwell Partners, LatAm and European groups.
Kingsley Gate also added Mike Bergen as a senior partner and global human resources practice leader. Mr. Bergen has nearly three decades of retained executive search and his expertise spans a variety of industries, geographies and functions with an exceptional track record placing executives in the human resources function. Mr. Bergen previously led the U.S. business for Allegis Partners and was the global practice leader for the firm’s human resources practice, as well as a member of the CEO and board practice.
Recently, the firm named Lindsey Burton as a vice president. She is based in the New York office. As a member of the financial services practice, Ms. Burton also supports business development and candidate identification across financial services and technology. Ms. Burton has a background within the financial services sector, including a focus on placing senior executives within investment banking, private equity and portfolio companies. She previously served as a consultant for Korn Ferry.
Kingsley Gate Partners also expanded with the additions of Jim Thompson, Victor Kleinman and Alison Woodhead as senior partners. Dr. Thompson previously served as a partner with Somerville Partners, a management consulting firm that applies the science of psychology to business challenges. Mr. Kleinman had been EVP and managing director of the life sciences practice at DHR International, where he worked closely with companies to recruit senior leadership teams, extending his involvement and collaboration across every stage of organizational growth. Prior to joining Kingsley Gate, Ms. Woodhead was a senior client partner at Morgan Samuels, and was responsible for securing, leading and executing retained executive search and talent consulting assignments on a global basis.
Lastly, Kingsley Gate introduced its new Synchronous Fit framework that leverages scientific cloud-based tools combined with insights from search consultants to provide the best fit between executives and companies. “The objective of the methodology is to ensure a lasting fit between client and candidate,” said Mr. Ramakrishnan. “Synchronous Fit accomplishes this by ensuring that risks are mitigated in the search process. This is achieved in two ways: first, by splitting the interview process between expert humans and intelligent cloud-based software. Second, by quantitatively and separately scoring the experience, the attributes, the values and the references of the candidate.”
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
