Consulting Acquisitions in Illinois

Accordion, a New York–based, AI- and data-powered financial consulting firm focused on private equity, has acquired operator-led performance improvement firm FCM. The deal adds about 50 operator-led consultants to Accordion’s capabilities, broadening its performance improvement and operational-diligence offerings to better serve private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies; financial terms were not disclosed.

Heidrick & Struggles has been taken private in a approximately $1.3 billion transaction led by Advent International and Corvex Private Equity with participation from a global network of strategic investors including Salem Capital Management, Mousse Partners, TF Cornerstone, HighSage Ventures and Barcliff Partners. The deal, which includes a substantial co-investment from Heidrick & Struggles leaders and partners, will support the company's multi-year growth strategy and investments in new technologies and capabilities while the business continues operating under its current brand.

HR Path, a global HR consulting and HRIS solutions provider, has acquired Next Generation, Inc. (NGI), a Chicago-based HCM/ERP consulting and systems-integration firm. The acquisition expands HR Path’s presence in North America and strengthens its workforce management and HCM implementation capabilities.

Global consulting firm J.S. Held has acquired MorrisAnderson, a Chicago-based turnaround and restructuring specialist. The acquisition expands J.S. Held’s restructuring, bankruptcy, transaction, and dispute advisory capabilities and gives MorrisAnderson access to J.S. Held’s broader global resources and network of experts.

Parthenon Capital has made a strategic growth investment in AArete, a Chicago-based management and technology consulting firm specializing in profitability improvement and digital transformation for healthcare payers, financial services and the public sector. The capital will be used to accelerate growth initiatives, broaden AArete’s service offerings, and support acquisitions while existing employees and leaders remain significant shareholders.

BayPine LP has made a majority investment in Harbor Global, a Chicago-based provider of consulting and technology services to the legal industry. Renovus Capital Partners, Harbor's initial private equity sponsor, will remain a significant investor alongside Harbor's management team; terms were not disclosed.

ZRG, a global talent advisory firm backed by RFE Investment Partners, has acquired Bravanti, a Chicago-based advisory firm specializing in executive coaching, leadership development, and outplacement/career transition services. The acquisition expands ZRG's Consulting & Advisory Services capabilities and brings Bravanti's global cadre of coaches into ZRG while Bravanti's leadership team will continue to operate the business; financial terms were not disclosed.

Richardson Sales Performance, backed by Truelink Capital, has acquired Challenger, the firm behind the Challenger selling methodology. The deal combines Richardson's role-based sales capability offerings with Challenger's research-driven approach and technology to expand the combined company's training, analytics and learning solutions for B2B sales organizations.

The Center for Sales Strategy (CSS) has acquired Robertson Lowstuter (R|L), a global executive coaching and leadership development consultancy. R|L will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of CSS, with founder leadership supporting a 12-month transition as CSS expands its executive coaching and leadership development capabilities.

Harbor has acquired the Legal Management Consulting practice from Stout to expand its advisory and managed-service capabilities in e-discovery, legal hold, data preservation, enterprise legal management (ELM) and contract lifecycle management (CLM). The former Stout team—recognized for advising corporate law departments and having served 125 Fortune 500 law departments—will enable Harbor to deliver expanded advisory and managed services to corporate legal departments and law firms.

The Vertex Companies, a portfolio company of Wind Point Partners, has acquired Breakwater Forensics, LLC, a Chicago-based expert witness and business consulting firm. The deal expands Vertex's forensics and expert testimony capabilities and strengthens its North American professional services bench.

Bain & Company has formed a strategic alliance and made a direct investment in Ashling Partners, a Chicago-based intelligent automation consulting and implementation firm backed by THL. The move deepens collaboration within Bain's Vector digital practices to scale automation and managed-services capabilities for enterprise clients across industries.

APCO Worldwide, a global advisory and advocacy consultancy, has acquired Gagen MacDonald, a human-centered transformation and employee engagement consultancy. Gagen MacDonald will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary led by Founder and CEO Maril MacDonald and its team will integrate with APCO’s global advisory capabilities to strengthen change, culture and employee-engagement services.

Ryan, a global tax services and software provider, has acquired Kane, McKenna and Associates, Inc. (KMA), a Chicago-based economic development and public finance advisory firm. The acquisition adds eight professionals, including founding partner Phil McKenna, and strengthens Ryan's Credits and Incentives practice by expanding its tax increment financing (TIF) capabilities and footprint in Illinois.

Charles River Associates (CRA) acquired substantially all assets of bioStrategies Group, a Chicago-based life sciences commercial strategy consulting firm, and retained 17 employees. The deal expands CRA's Life Sciences Practice capabilities and geographic presence by adding experienced consultants including Mike Kaestle and Chris Schneider.

Private equity firm Renovus Capital partnered to acquire HBR Consulting's Advisory business, effective November 10, 2022. The transaction separates the Advisory unit to operate independently with leadership led by Matt Sunderman and provides growth capital to accelerate expansion in the legal consulting market.

McKinsey & Company has acquired SCM Connections, a Chicago-based consultancy specializing in advanced, technology-enabled supply chain planning and Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) implementations. The acquisition expands McKinsey’s supply chain and McKinsey Digital capabilities to deliver end-to-end, technology-enabled supply chain planning transformations for clients across manufacturing and other industries.

Stout acquired The Claro Group, LLC, a financial, economic, and management consulting firm, adding a team of 92 professionals and expanded capabilities in insurance claims, economic consulting, and restructuring. The transaction became effective October 1, 2022 and represents Stout's fourth acquisition since Audax Private Equity invested in the firm.

Riveron, a national business advisory firm and portfolio company of H.I.G. Capital, has acquired Clermont Partners, a women‑owned ESG, investor relations, and strategic communications consultancy. The acquisition (terms not disclosed) adds a 35‑person team across Chicago and Washington, D.C., and expands Riveron's ESG and investor relations capabilities by creating a new ESG and Strategic Communications practice.

J.S. Held, a global consulting firm, has acquired Ocean Tomo LLC, an intellectual property and intangible-asset advisory specialist headquartered in Chicago. The deal brings more than 80 Ocean Tomo professionals into J.S. Held and provides an exit for Ocean Tomo institutional investors Bow River Capital and Sinofaith IP Group.

The Planet Group, a portfolio company of Odyssey Investment Partners, has entered into an agreement to acquire Strive Consulting, a full-service technology consulting firm headquartered in Chicago. The acquisition expands Planet's technology consulting, advisory, and staffing capabilities by adding Strive's ~400 professionals and offices across several U.S. cities.

New Mountain Capital has made a strategic investment in Bounteous, a Chicago-based digital experience consultancy, acquiring the company from Mountaingate Capital. The partnership will support investments in talent, new service offerings, and Bounteous' Co-Innovation methods while the existing management team remains in place.

Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire HRC Retail Advisory, a retail-focused strategy consultancy whose team of more than 30 people across North America will join Accenture's Retail Strategy group. The deal, which expands Accenture's retail strategy, analytics and performance-improvement capabilities, is subject to customary closing conditions; financial terms were not disclosed.

Boston-based private equity firm WestView Capital Partners has completed a growth investment in The Shelby Group, a Schaumburg, Illinois–based e-procurement transformation and optimization consultancy. The Shelby Group's leadership (CEO John Dreyer and EVP Jim Kandilas) will remain in place and retain significant ownership as the company uses the capital to scale service delivery capabilities and advance its proprietary digital procurement solutions.

Genpact has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Chicago-based digital consultancy Rightpoint to combine experience innovation with Genpact's process and digital capabilities. Rightpoint will continue to be led by co-founder Ross Freedman as CEO and will expand its offerings and global reach through Genpact's client base and platform.

Jensen Hughes, a portfolio company of Gryphon Investors, has acquired Hillard Heintze, a market leader in strategic security risk management and investigations. The add-on expands Jensen Hughes' security and emergency management capabilities and integrates Hillard Heintze's services for Fortune-ranked enterprises, sports leagues, law enforcement agencies, and private clients.

Ernst & Young LLP (EY) has acquired Chicago-based Sonoma Partners, a consulting firm specializing in Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Salesforce CRM solutions. The deal brings more than 100 Sonoma practitioners into EY's U.S. Digital, Data and Analytics practice to expand EY's CRM and digital transformation delivery capabilities.