BrazilEPSA ramps up with Kloepfel Group and Kronos Group
French professional services group EPSA has acquired two consultancies specialised in procurement – German-origin Kloepfel Group and Belgium-based Kronos Group.
The bolt-ons creates one of Europe’s larger consulting firms dedicated to business transformation, operational improvement and procurement, among others, with a total combined headcount of around 1,650 professionals.
Kloepfel Consulting and Kronos Group both provide their clients a range of procurement services, from consultancy and benchmarking to cost optimisation and procurement outsourcing services. Kloepfel Consulting was founded in 2007 and has grown into an award-winning 200-strong firm. The firm operates with offices in Germany, the Netherlands and Central Eastern Europe.
Kronos Group, founded in 2011, is headquartered in Brussels and has a team of around 120 consultants. The firm prides itself on its fast growth in recent years, having been named one of Europe’s 1,000 fastest growing companies by the Financial Times for two consecutive years in 2018 and 2019.
For EPSA, the addition of Kloepfel Consulting and Kronos Group adds nearly €40 million to its financial footprint, lifting its fee income to beyond the €200 million mark.
Meanwhile, it deepens its service portfolio in the procurement and supply chain space. “This alliance reinforces EPSA’s position across Europe, and makes us one of the largest pan-European procurement groups,” said Matthieu Gufflet, President of Paris-based EPSA.
Beyond procurement, EPSA also has large business lines that support its clients with services including business transformation, finance, operations, energy consumption optimisation, project management, tax and innovation.
Leaders of Kloepfel Group (CEO Marc Kloepfel) and Kronos Group (founding partners Catherine Van Wonterghem and Benoit Graas) all expressed their delight and joining forces with EPSA. “We are absolutely sure that we have found the right partners for our further development,” said Kloepfel, with the Belgian duo adding, “this new and strong alliance allows us to join a family that shares the same vision and entrepreneurial culture.”
In other pan-European consulting deals this year, Netherlands-based Quint earlier this week joined Swiss-German consulting group AWK and Ginkgo, while Viqtor Davis joind the Dutch-Danish combination of First Consulting and Valcon. Both alliances are backed by private equity.
