P2 Consulting joins pan-European player Valcon
London-based P2 Consulting has been acquired by Valcon, a pan-European management and technology consulting firm with a footprint in five countries.
Commenting on the joining of forces with Valcon, P2 Consulting’s chief executive Phil Rolfe said: “We are really excited to become part of Valcon. Through our discussions it became clear that Valcon has similar values to P2 Consulting.”
Founded in 2013, P2 Consulting specialises in the delivery of complex programmes and projects in the public and private sector private (mainly financial services, retail and utilities). The firm also has practices that specialise in testing, data and engineering. Since its inception, P2 Consulting has grown rapidly to a team of around 200 consultants.
The P2 Consulting bolt-on sees Valcon treble its UK headcount. The group already had a presence in the UK (around 100 staff) through its former entities First Consulting and Viqtor Davis.
Valcon launched last month following the merger between First Consulting, Viqtor Davis and Danish operations consultancy Valcon. The new group retained the Valcon brand for a simple and pragmatic reason: “we thought it was a good name which suited the organisation as a whole, so why look for a completely new name?” said Geert van den Goor, Managing Partner of Valcon.
Private-equity backed Valcon had 800 consultants in the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden and Germany prior to the deal, and now sees its headcount break through the 1,000 mark.
Van den Goor said: “We have known P2 for some time and are impressed with their track record and their people. The combination of P2 and our UK practice gives us the ability to help our joint clients even better and on a broader scale.”
In addition, Valcon expects to be able to bring P2 Consulting’s experience in financial crime consulting (which was built on its 2017 acquisition of FS 101) “to our broader Benelux and Scandinavian client base,” said Van den Goor, a former Accenture senior partner who joined First Consulting back in 2013 to drive the firm’s growth ambitions.
Meanwhile, at P2 Consulting’s end, the deal will help deepen its offerings, particularly in complementary areas such as technology, data and cloud services – services delivered by Valcon’s technology wing.
About the deal
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. Lonsdale Capital Partners, which invested in P2 Consulting in 2016, has exited its stake. Valcon is backed by Waterland.
Lonsdale Capital Partners and the founding shareholders were advised by Clearwater International, and Burness Paull, while the P2 management team was advised by Osborne Clarke. The commercial due diligence was provided by L.E.K. Consulting with financial and tax due diligence provided by Alvarez & Marsal.