ZRG Expands into India

January 13, 2025 – ZRG has established a presence in India with the hiring of Ramit Bhel as a managing director in New Delhi. “Ramit’s experience establishing and growing a consumer and retail search practice in India will be a wonderful benefit to our clients,” stated Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG. “India represents a strategic geography for global business, and we are always eager to have local experts working for our clients across the globe.”

“I am very excited to announce the formal launch of our ZRG Partners India business,” said James Absalom, chief commercial officer – international at ZRG, in a LinkedIn post. “We have been active in India as a market for some time but with the addition of Ramit Bhel spearheading our growth, we hope to deepen the engagement we have with current and new clients in the region.”

Mr. Bhel’s addition furthers ZRG’s strategic expansion across Asia, Oceania, and the broader APAC region. The firm has built a presence across Australia, within the UAE and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and more recently in Singapore.

Mr. Bhel brings extensive experience in the executive search industry having worked with multinational search firms in the past such as Spencer Stuart, Russell Reynolds, and Odgers Berndtson. He has placed senior-level leaders across general management, functional, and varied business leadership roles across Indian and multinational organizations. Mr. Bhel brings experience in working with private equity backed portfolio companies having completed more than three dozen searches over the last 24 months. In addition to consumer & retail, he also carries out mandates for the sports, media, and entertainment industry.

“I was excited to join one of the fastest growing talent advisory firms in the world,” said Mr. Bhel. “I look forward to collaborating with the strong global consumer and retail team and continuing to work with marquee clients.”

ZRG, founded in 1999, is a mid-sized global executive search firm and one of the fastest growing in the search industry, with the financial backing of private equity investor RFE Investment Partners. It provides a full suite of executive, middle management, and customized search solutions through its offices in North America, Europe, South America, and Asia. The firm finds leaders across a broad spectrum of business markets, including aerospace, consumer, education, healthcare services, and solutions, industrial, life sciences, non-profit, private equity and venture capital, and technology. ZRG is based in Rochelle Park, NJ.

Growth in the Middle East

In December, ZRG expanded in the Middle East with the addition of Hanan Alsaif as managing director – strategic account relations. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. “Hanan’s expertise as a practitioner and search professional in strategy, transformation, and HR is a great asset to our clients throughout the region,” said Mr. Hartmann. “Local team members know their markets deeply and personally, and our clients always appreciate having someone on the ground.”

Related: ZRG Names Managing Director of Consulting Solutions

A founding member of the Saudi Leadership society, Ms. Alsaif worked to establish the change management office in the King Faisal Specialist hospital, where she led organizational transformation and the cultural transformation efforts. In addition to her work in organizational transformation, she is also an award-winning HR leader. Ms. Alsaif is an experienced executive with over 15 years in various industries, roles, and responsibilities in her native country of Saudi Arabia. The industries she has served include education, healthcare, business, banking, and philanthropy, in both government and the private sector. In recent years, she has switched to the consulting industry, specializing in strategy, culture transformation, change management, and leadership development.

Past Acquisition

In September, ZRG acquired Bravanti, a Chicago-based advisory firm specializing in services including executive coaching, executive team coaching, developing leaders, and outplacement/career transition services. “Bravanti brings expertise in three key areas: executive coaching, leadership acceleration, and outplacement career transition,” said Mr. Hartmann. “Bravanti’s global cadre of highly experienced coaches helps unlock the potential of executives up through C-level who deliver powerful business results and exceptional return on their company’s investments in their development.”


Inside The Deal: CEO Larry Hartmann Opens Up On ZRG’s Latest Strategic Acquisition

Larry Hartmann is a seasoned veteran of the people business. As the chief executive of ZRG, he leads one of the fastest growing, global talent management hubs in the human capital sector. It wasn’t always this way. Larry founded ZRG 24 years ago on the core principle of building a better recruiting platform. Simple enough. Today, that vision has extended to a $230 million data-driven suite of talent and consulting offerings, including culture transformation, leadership assessment, executive coaching, strategic communications, RPO, and interim solutions. 


The acquisition comes on the heels of ZRG completing a $120 million debt raise with Main Street Capital, underscoring the firm’s commitment to growth and its mission to be a disruptive force in the talent advisory and executive recruiting sector. “This significant funding will bolster ZRG’s growth initiatives and enhance its ability to deliver innovative talent solutions to clients worldwide,” the firm said. “It is a great time to acquire niche talent advisory and management businesses and build out our capabilities across executive search, interim, RPO, and consulting,” said Mr. Hartmann. “This additional financing from Main Street Capital, combined with our recent equity raise with a consortium of investors, positions us strongly to achieve our strategic objectives.”

Related: ZRG Acquires Jamesbeck

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor  – Hunt Scanlon Media

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