Sia Partners grows Canadian team to 50 consultants with E3 acquisition
One month after completing the acquisition of ShiftIN Partners in the Middle East, Sia Partners have now closed a deal in North America. Canadian firm E3, which draws annual revenues in excess of CAN$7 million, will now be added to Sia’s Montreal outfit.
Founded in 1999, in Paris, today Sia Partners is one of the globe’s largest management consulting firms. The firm has seen rapid growth in recent years, and today employs around 900 consultants across 20 offices globally. The company initially expanded into the North American consulting market – the largest consulting industry in the world – with the opening of its New York office in 2012. Since then, the firm has been making a concerted effort to broaden its continental profile, opening a new office in the Canadian city of Montreal in 2014. The move to meet the rising demand for Sia’s services, mainly in the financial services sector, saw the organisation opt for an on-the-ground location in Canada – which was soon followed with a second US office based in North Carolina as well as another in Houston, Texas.
Sia Partners has close to 150 consultants spread over its four North American offices in New York, Charlotte, Houston, and Montreal, following the further strengthening of its presence in Montreal, consisting of the purchase of Canadian firm E3 Services Conseils. The transaction reinforces Sia’s position as one of the leading consultancy firms in French speaking markets – as the global firm has key presences in Belgium, Morocco and Luxembourg, along with its native France. With E3 based in the French-speaking city Montreal, this presented Sia with an improved opportunity for rapid synergies after the acquisition.
Founded in 2006, E3 supports 60 public and private stakeholders in the implementation of their strategy and transformation projects. The management consulting firm is composed of 40 consultants, and operates primarily in the banking, insurance, energy, telecommunications, media, and public sector – generating revenues in excess of CAN$ 7.5 million. By merging with E3, Sia Partners’ Montreal entity will leap from a staff of under 10 to become a major player in the consultancy industry in the region, with nearly 50 consultants. This is a tactic which Sia leveraged to similar effect in both the UK and the Middle East, as the local wings of the firm, which were relatively, received significant boosts in their stature from the purchases of Molten and Shiftin Partners, respectively.
The founding partners of E3, Pierre Paquin, Marco Savoie and Gilles Tanghe will now become part of the management team of Sia Partners in Canada. Speaking about the deal, Paquin said, "This is a natural fit for two independent consulting firms that share entrepreneurial values. Thanks to our solid portfolio of clients in the Montréal market combined with the sectorial expertise of Sia Partners, we are aiming for 15 million Canadian dollars in sales over the next three years. Our ambition is to become a market leader in Quebec and begin a new stage of development in Ontario.”
Fellow co-founder Marco Savoie added, "The international dimension of Sia Partners is also a valuable asset to support our Canadian and international clients.”
Citing key growth targets for Sia over the coming two years, Matthieu Courtecuisse, founder and CEO of Sia Partners, remarked, "This acquisition represents one of our ambitions for 2020: to achieve a critical size in the 15 markets where we operate today. This merger will also enable Sia Partners to develop its innovative approach to Consulting 4.0 in Canada, primarily because Montreal is one of the most important places in the world in terms of artificial intelligence. Furthermore, recruiting talent for both our Montreal office and the rest of the group is one of our priorities.”
