GI Group announced last week that it acquired Grafton Recruitment Europe Holding Limited, a staffing provider with a presence in the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

Grafton has 26 offices in Europe with more than 350 employees and place 9,000 candidates in 2017, according to the announcement. The deal gives Milan, Italy-based GI Group 100% ownership of the business.

“In the context of our development plans, this acquisition increases our competitiveness and our international presence starting from the heart of Europe, where we were already operating in the field of temporary employment,” GI Group CEO Stefano Colli-Lanzi said.

GI Group ranks among the globe’s largest staffing providers.

The sale of Grafton’s Eastern European operations follows an announcement last month that it had sold its Irish operations to Staffline.

Blackwood Capital acted as financial advisor to GI Group.