Groupe CRIT, a Paris-based staffing provider, is acquiring a 75 percent stake in PeopleLink LLC, a South Bend, Ind.-based staffing firm.

The acquisition marks an entry into the U.S. for Groupe CRIT, which Staffing Industry Analysts ranks at the 20th largest staffing firm in the world with estimated global staffing revenue of $1.45 billion. Groupe CRIT has operations in France, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Morocco and Tunisia.

PeopleLink ranks as the 93rd largest staffing firm in the U.S. with estimated U.S. staffing revenue of $104 million; industrial staffing is its largest segment.

“We firmly believe that the combination of our two companies provides an excellent platform for growth in the U.S. and delivers to our European multinational clients added service offerings on an international scale,” said Claude Guedj, founder and chairman of Groupe CRIT.

PeopleLink CEO William Wilkinson will continue in his role, and the Wilkinson family will retain a 25 percent stake in the firm. However, the deal calls for a five-member board of directors controlled by Groupe Crit to supervise the company. Wilkinson will chair the board. Nathalie Jaoui, president of the temporary and recruitment business of Groupe CRIT, will also join the board.

Plans call for PeopleLink to continue operating under the PeopleLink brand.

“PeopleLink will continue to operate in a ‘business-as-usual’ mode,” said Wilkinson. “We anticipate that our successful operating model will remain fully in place, and PeopleLink will continue to innovate and seek growth opportunities through organic growth, expansion and strategic acquisitions.”