Osborne Clarke has completed a trio of M&A deals in the recruitment sector in the last month, evidencing the increasing appetite of recruiters to broaden their service lines and geographic reach.

The deals, which have already been covered in the Daily News, were Empresaria Group acquisition of US healthcare recruiter PS, which was completed yesterday; AndersElite’s acquisition of London-based recruitment business Ship Shape Resources and Heidrick & Struggles’s acquisition of executive search and consulting firm Co Company.

Kevin Barrow, Partner at Osborne Clarke said exclusively to Staffing Industry Analysts that “the trends apparent from Osborne Clarke's 6 recent corporate deals for recruiters, and other deals we are currently looking at, include:

• Many agencies doing pretty well!
• Agencies looking to diversify into consultancy or (in the case of blue collar staffing companies) go up-market
• Owner managers looking to de-risk perhaps mindful that the current cycle may not last for ever
• The increase in the number of deals with an international flavour, with increasing focus by investors on global compliance issues
• And a general feeling (in some sub-sectors) that future success/survival will be easier if you are part of a larger group."

Speaking about Empresaria acquisition to Staffing Industry Joost Kreulen, Chief Executive Officer, said: “The acquisition of Pharmaceutical Strategies (PS) is the group’s first investment in the US, which provides us with additional presence in the healthcare sector, increases our exposure to specialist temporary staffing services and another geographical platform to grow our business"

"PS is a specialist recruitment group in the US healthcare market which focuses primarily on pharmacy benefit managers. The PS business is currently growing strongly and sector growth is expected to continue following the adoption of the Affordable Care Act. It is a profitable and cash generating business and we believe the acquisition will be earnings enhancing on an adjusted basis in the first full year of ownership.”

The acquisition according to the company complements Empresaria's stated growth strategy by bolstering its presence in the healthcare sector and further diversifying the Group geographically, with an entry into the US market. PS is a 100% temporary recruitment business focused on professional and specialist roles, so is complementary to the Group's focus of building its temporary recruitment bias and its operational mix.

Strong demand for temporary staffing in the US healthcare sector again according to the company underpinned the growth of PS in 2015, with revenue and EBITDA on track to grow to an estimated $11 million and $1.3m respectively during the current financial year ending 31 December 2015.