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Simply a matter of timing

Staffing Industry Review

Simply a matter of timing

Chelsea Emery
| January 24, 2025
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Sometimes companies aggressively pursue M&A transactions to implement their long-planned business strategies.

In other cases, it’s simply a matter of timing. 

“We weren’t actively for sale but we had a very compelling offer,” John A. Martins, president and CEO of Cross Country Healthcare, told me the day Aya Healthcare announced its $615 million acquisition of the Boca Raton, Florida-based healthcare talent management company. “The board did their due diligence and thought this was a very good premium to our stock price and that it was time to return value to the shareholders.” 

The Aya Healthcare/Cross Country deal followed a slew of others in 2024: Kelly Services in June completed its largest-ever acquisition, buying Motion Recruitment Partners, and Health Advocates announced four acquisitions in the fourth quarter alone. 

Will the dealmaking surge continue throughout 2025? That’s a compelling question, but it’s more important to ask what it takes to build a long-lasting, stable partnership that will thrive amid all types of business conditions. For that, turn to page 12, where Associate Editor Danny Romero unpacks what staffing firms should consider to maximize their chances of success. 

According to Cross Country’s Martins, synergy is vital. “Aya Healthcare shares our commitment to core values,” he said. “They conduct their business very similarly to how we conduct business, how we treat our employees, how we serve our customers.”

Synergy is also important to us at SIA. We welcome your thoughts, questions and insights to help us hone our content to fit your needs. Please reach out to me at [email protected].