4c Executive Search, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland, acquired MSL Search & Selection, the companies announced Wednesday. Both firms provide executive search services in Northern Ireland.

MSL will be subsumed into the 4c brand which includes 4c Executive Search, 4c Boardroom and 4c Third Sector. MSL has provided executive recruitment services to organisations in Northern Ireland for more than 20 years; founder and former managing director Ian Rainey will remain involved in the business in a non-executive director capacity.

“Having already expanded significantly in the past 12 months through the launch of a number of new divisions in the business, we saw this opportunity to purchase MSL — Northern Ireland’s oldest and most-established executive recruitment provider — as the next step in our ambitious growth strategy,” said Gary Irvine, 4c’s founder and managing director.