Sia Partners secures €250 million in funding from Blackstone
Following 25 years of privately-funded growth, Sia Partners has turned to the world of private equity to fast-track its future growth ambitions.
Launched in 1999 by the Frenchman Matthieu Courtecuisse, Sia Partners today has over 3,000 employees working from 50 offices in around 20 countries. The management and technology consulting firm serves over 1,000 clients in a range of sectors, providing expertise including strategy, organisation, finance, risk & compliance, sales & marketing, innovation, cyber, data, and digital transformation.
Having funded its organic growth and more than 20 acquisitions from its own reserves, Sia Partners has now opened up a fresh avenue of funding with the arrival of Blackstone as a minority shareholder. Full details of the deal have not been disclosed, however, Sia Partners confirmed the private equity group will inject to the tune of €250 million into the firm in return for a minority stake, with chief executive Courtecuisse retaining a significant majority stake.
“We are thrilled that Blackstone is investing in our consulting firm as a minority partner. With Blackstone’s resources we can grow our organic offerings, accelerate our international expansion plans and develop our ability to innovate, bringing our premium offering to more clients around the world,” said Courtecuisse.
In terms of offerings, Sia Partners aims to ramp up its capabilities in high-demand areas such as AI and data science, ESG and sustainability, innovation, and digital transformation.
From an expansion perspective, Courtecuisse said that the firm expects the consulting industry to enter a “new phase of consolidation”, in response to a convergence of trends impacting the market including evolving client expectations, continued globalisation of engagements at multinationals, AI becoming a co-pilot to consultants, and the growing investments needed to remain at the forefront of technology developments.
With the funding from Blackstone, Sia Partners will be in a better position to close deals in areas that strategically strengthen its capabilities.
Investments will also aim to expand the firm’s geographic footprint, which today heavily leans on the French and US markets – together they represent 40% and 30% respectively of the firm’s close to €500 million revenue base. Beyond these two key markets, Sia Partners also has successful practices in the UK & Ireland, the Benelux, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, among others.
“Sia Partners is a fast-growing leader in the consulting space, benefitting from a differentiated service offering and deep expertise across industries,” said Lionel Assant, Global Co-Chief Investment Officer at Blackstone, which has over $1.1 trillion in assets under management, making it the world’s largest alternative asset manager. “We look forward to partnering with Sia Partners to drive long-term growth by leveraging our global footprint, scale and expertise.”
The deal was led by J.P. Morgan, which acted as the exclusive financial adviser to Sia Partners. Eight Advisory and Freshfields acted as advisors to Blackstone.
