ZRG Partners Appoints Co-Leader of Global CFO Practice
June 24, 2022 – ZRG Partners has named Blayne O’Hara as managing director and co-leader of the firm’s global financial officers practice. “Blayne has worked with some of the world’s largest organizations, shaping financial transformation through the build-out of new finance functions and leading change through talent,” said Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG. “His appointment as co-lead of the global financial officers practice is an important part of ZRG’s growth plan, and we look forward to his great successes to come in this role.”
Mr. O’Hara regularly supports and advises boards, CEOs, and investors across a number of sectors. Previously, he established and led the U.S. and U.K. CFO practice for boutique search firm Stonehaven International, and earlier he helped build another boutique firm. Mr. O’Hara has also led senior-level searches in the areas of financial services and alternative investment for global search firms CTPartners and Korn Ferry. While the majority of his search execution has been in North America and Europe, he has also been based in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions. Mr. O’Hara has served financial services and insurance, industrials, private equity, venture capital, and sovereign wealth funds, and partnered with FMCG, defense, TMT, and retail companies as well.
“The depth of insight ZRG can offer our clients is unique, and the range of solutions – whether interim, strategy, search, culture shaping, or professional search – allows us to truly shape and impact our clients’ organizations through talent,” Mr. O’Hara said. “The ZRG offering creates the change to make a real impact in the work we deliver.”
ZRG, founded in 1999, is a progressive mid-sized global executive search firm and one of the fastest growing in the search industry. 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.
Today, with the financial backing of private equity investor RFE Investment Partners, ZRG is among the fastest growing firms in the search industry and provides a full suite of retained search, on-demand talent, and consulting and advisory solutions across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Australia.
Recent Acquisitions
This spring, ZRG acquired Terra Search Partners, an executive search firm exclusive to the real estate industry. “The team at Terra Search is a great addition to our real estate practice,” said Mr. Hartmann. “Our data-driven approach to talent plus their deep expertise in the real estate sector is a boon for our clients across the globe. Real estate expertise is required in all sectors of the economy and all functional skillsets are required within the real estate industry, which is ideally suited for ZRG’s cross-sector, interdisciplinary approach to human capital.”
Related: ZRG Names Chief Revenue Officer
Since 2006, Terra Search has advised real estate businesses throughout the U.S. on positive transformation through human capital. “We’re looking forward to joining the ZRG family, and I am excited to partner with Kevin Jones to lead the ZRG real estate practice,” said Matt Slepin, founder of Terra Search. “Real estate has become increasingly institutional where human capital is at a premium, and the power of the ZRG model can make a significant impact on the business. We are thrilled to be able to leverage the breadth of the ZRG platform to grow our practice.”
In April, ZRG acquired RoseRyan Inc., a Silicon Valley-based provider of finance and accounting consulting solutions. “The nature of the workforce has evolved and having even greater bandwidth in the finance and accounting consulting sector through RoseRyan is fantastic,” said Mr. Hartmann. “This complements our current interim team, led by Mark Viner, and also adds important consulting capability to allow us to service a wide range of clients, who need support in accounting and HR.”
Since 1993, Campbell, CA-based RoseRyan has engaged over 1,000 clients on projects including outsourced accounting for start-ups, corporate governance, interim solutions, and strategic projects such as IPO readiness, SEC reporting, financial planning and modeling, technical accounting, audit support and mergers and acquisitions. The addition substantially expands ZRG’s consulting capabilities, adding to the firm’s West Coast presence and breadth of solutions for their clients.
Related: ZRG Appoints Global Head of Financial Services
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
