H2 Equity Partners ("H2") are a hands-on pan European private equity firm with a portfolio of 13 companies, generating sales of c.€1.5 billion.
The private equity firm already has exposure to the recruitment sector through its investments in Myler and DIT, two specialist recruitment businesses based in the Netherlands.
Search Consultancy (“Search”), established in 1987, is an independent business that has grown to become one of the UK's leading recruitment consultancies. It has offices in 13 locations across the country, placing people at all levels across a wide range of commercial and industry sectors.
H2 identified Search as a recruitment business that would enable their expansion and develop their presence in the space naturally as well as scale their global capabilities.
As a result of wide and existing relationships with H2, we were invited to present the firm’s credentials in the recruitment sector as part of a competitive tender to help support H2's acquisition of Search and ongoing long-term strategic ambition.
Having been successfully selected, our Leeds transaction advisory services team provided due diligence support whilst our London corporate finance team undertook a detailed market mapping exercise of the UK recruitment market, based on H2's specific criteria to understand key value drivers and the future exit strategy. Search has an existing foothold in a number of specialisms presenting a strong platform for H2 to build upon.
Through our team’s advice and support, H2 successfully purchased the business.
The team were able to harness their strong recruitment knowledge to provide insightful diligence on Search, a comprehensive map of the market and strategic rationale behind any future investments.
“I would like to thank Grant Thornton for their advice, guidance and support in helping us complete this transaction with Search enabling us to scale in this market in the UK. We selected Grant Thornton due to the breadth of the services they were able to offer to support us on our acquisition strategy based on their experience in transacting in the Recruitment space and their extensive industry knowledge and connections. We look forward to continuing our work with Grant Thornton as we progress on the recruitment acquisition trail. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the team.”
Patrick Kalverboer Managing Partner, H2 Equity Partners Limited
