Vaco Acquires Prodigy Bank of Toronto
October 14, 2020 – In an effort to fuel growth across the Northeast and Canada, Brentwood, TN-headquartered recruiting firm Vaco has acquired technology-focused recruiting firm Prodigy Bank of Toronto. The acquisition complements Vaco’s recent expansions in Canada, following its Lannick acquisition in 2017 and expansion into Montreal last year.
“We felt a kindred chemistry with the Prodigy Bank team from the first meeting, and our bond was quickly steeled as we had to creatively find our way together through the tumultuousness of 2020,” said Jerry Bostelman, Vaco co-founder and CEO. “The creative spirit and progressive resiliency they’ve shown through these challenging times is one of many reasons we’re proud to fortify our Toronto operations with this extraordinary organization.”
Prodigy Bank of Toronto is the No.1 professional staffing firm (No. 19 overall) for new growth companies as rated by Canadian Business and MacLean’s magazine. Prodigy Bank has experienced explosive growth in 2020: Revenue is up 188 percent for the year compared with 2019, and second quarter revenue has increased nearly 270 percent compared to its previous record. Prodigy Bank has also produced a meteoric revenue growth of 800 percent over the last two years.
Prodigy Bank, founded in 2016, joins an organization that delivers talent and solutions across diverse industries and to more than 10,000 clients globally. Prodigy Bank specializes in the E-commerce, technology, digital, software product development and financial services sectors, serving more than 100 clients ranging from the largest enterprises in Canada composed of financial institutions, banks and retailers to small to mid-size companies across various industries.
Strongly Positioned
“I’m thrilled to bring these two organizations together; I know corporate culture come first for Jerry and the entire Vaco team, and that premise has been the pillar of our success as well,” said Peter Rajabian, founder and president of Prodigy Bank, who will serve as managing partner for Vaco in Toronto. “By combining Prodigy Bank’s local market expertise with the resources of a global powerhouse such as Vaco, we are strongly positioned to achieve our mutual vision for becoming a market leader in both technology recruiting as well as consulting services. We’ve strengthened our capabilities and added rocket fuel to an already storied journey.”
In recent years, Vaco has announced numerous other acquisitions and expansions, including the acquisition of MEBC Global, a Pennsylvania consulting firm specializing in supply chain processes in late 2018; the expansion of its business agility services operations in the Raleigh-Durham, N.C. area; the acquisition of Aventine Hill Partners, an advisory, consulting, and executive search firm, as Vaco in San Antonio; and the acquisition last year of MorganFranklin Consulting, a leading finance and technology advisory firm based in the Washington, D.C. area, with regional offices in Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.
Founded in 2002 by Mr. Bostelman, Jay Hollomon and Brian Waller, Vaco provides boutique-level service with global reach in executive search, consulting, permanent placement and strategic staffing. Its areas of expertise include accounting, finance, technology, healthcare IT, operations, administration and managed services. The firm operates more than 35 offices, with 780-plus employees and 4,300 consultants worldwide.
Earlier this year, Vaco opened a new office in West Palm Beach, FL and added two key leaders: Matt Walter, co-managing partner of the technology practice, and Albert Llodra, managing director.
A Growth Market
South Florida is a key growth market for Vaco, serving more than 7,000 clients and some 2,500 placements over the last four years. “Adding Matt and Albert and expanding our footprint to West Palm Beach are key components of our strategic growth plans for Florida,” said Denise Bennett-Walls, senior partner. “Under this expanded leadership team, we are projecting more than $4 million in sales in 2020 in South Florida alone. And with five locations across the state, we can partner with businesses to ensure that they have top talent on a full-time, contract, and interim basis.”
Mr. Walter oversees the technology practice’s temporary, consulting and permanent placement teams. With more than 12 years of experience in technology consulting, staffing and business operations – especially within the South Florida market – he will focus on helping area businesses solve their workforce challenges and expanding Vaco’s growing consultant community. Mr. Walter is located at the West Palm Beach office.
Mr. Walter previously served as managing director at Hernandez & Co., a full-service CPA firm specializing in national and international tax, accounting and corporate services. He also held various leadership roles at Robert Half Technology and served as an advisory analyst for KPMG.
Mr. Llodra has more than 30 years of multidisciplinary experience in public accounting and the private sector. In addition to accounting and finance, his expertise includes forensic accounting and litigation support. Prior to joining Vaco, Mr. Llodra held several leadership positions including executive management roles and CFO. He started his career at Deloitte specializing in assurance, tax compliance and tax planning.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
