BrazilSwiss multinational SGS buys consulting firm Maine Pointe
Maine Pointe, a consulting firm with four offices globally, has been acquired by SGS, a Switzerland-headquartered company with nearly 100,000 employees globally.
The Swiss multinational, which has over 97,000 employees globally across more than 2,600 offices and laboratories, provides inspection, verification, testing and certification services. The company checks the weight and quality of traded goods, the quality of products, and evaluates product performance against various health, safety and regulatory standards set by governments or standardisation bodies.
The majority stake addition of Maine Pointe will according to Frankie Ng, chief executive of SGS, enable the company to “significantly accelerate its inroads into more advanced consultancy services” in the area of performance improvement. Realising a shift towards higher value-added services such as management consulting is a key pillar of SGS’s strategy, which was unveiled by its leadership team in November last year during the firm’s investor Days.
As part of the strategy, subsidiary Petroleum Service Corporation (PSC) – a provider of product handling and site logistics services for the oil & gas sector – was sold off last month to Aurora Capital Partners for $335 million. The bolt-on of Maine Pointe, a consultancy founded in 2004 with a track record of more than 100 engagements globally, is SGS’s second major move since the new strategy kicked in.
NG remarked: “Maine Pointe adds another layer of competence to the group.” The integration sees the US-headquartered consulting firm operate as a distinctive business within SGS’s Certification & Business Enhancement (CBE) business unit, with the firm maintaining its brand and offerings towards clients.
For Maine Pointe, the joining of forces enables the firm to tap into SGS’s large network of clients and portfolios. Alongside working with private equity groups, the consultancy focuses on companies in the industrial sectors, including aerospace & defence, chemicals, consumer packaged goods, automotive, industrial machinery and oil & gas – all of which are also served by SGS. Through the deal, the consultancy expects to be able to deliver its strategy & operations, procurement, supply chain and digitisation services to a broader audience, while enabling SGS to better serve its clients in the consulting space.
“We were attracted to SGS by its platform and expertise. We are excited about the opportunity to expand our complementary businesses by leveraging our expertise across SGS’s global network,” said Steven Bowen, chairman and chief executive of Maine Pointe.
He added, “This transaction makes us stronger, smarter, more competitive and influential – a truly global network of professionals ready to help clients address increasingly complex global supply chain challenges.”
Terms and conditions of the transaction have not been disclosed. Earlier this week, US-headquartered consulting firm FTI Consulting bolstered its presence in Europe with the purchase of Andersch, a leading German restructuring advisory firm, while last week – in one of the biggest consulting deals of the year – Capgemini bought engineering consultancy Altran for €3.6 billion.
