BrazilKea & Partners acquires French management consultancy Ylios
In its second deal this year, French management consultancy Kea & Partners has acquired counterpart Ylios.
Founded in 1988, Ylios is a boutique consulting firm that specialises in management, transformation, open-ecosystem innovation and change. The 30-strong consultancy is based in Paris, and is led by a group of six partners (Angelos Souriadakis, Karim Hatem, Yoram Bosc-Haddad, Fabrice Catala, Fabien Goeller and Gaëtan de Royer Dupré) who now all become a partner at Kea & Partners.
Ylios works across sectors, including energy, pharma and life science, insurance, infrastructure, tourism, and the public sector, and enjoys a particular strong track record in the healthcare segment. The consultancy has among others supported hospitals with mergers, developed and rolled-out e-health programs for municipalities, and helped several institutions with performance improvement.
The firm also has small lines of business that focus on lobbying & public affairs and executive coaching, as well as a small in-house venture capital fund which invests in start-ups that complement its own offerings.
The deal is part of Kea & Partners’ strategy to double the business within the coming five years. The firm now employs around 230 consultants (including Ylios) across offices in Paris, Lyon and Casablanca, and generates revenues of just under €60 million.
“The acquisition of Ylios accelerates the development of Kea & Partners, and brings together two firms who share the same values and the same vision,” remarked Arnaud Gangloff, chairman and chief executive of Kea & Partners and the Kea Group. He added that both firms pride themselves on a purpose that puts people, planet and society at the heart of their ambitions and operations.
Ylios will continue to go to market under its own brand, and operate alongside other sister brands within Kea’s group including: Kea & Partners (strategy and business consulting); Tilt Ideas (innovation); Arkos (a change consultancy acquired late 2020); Kea-Euclyd (digital transformation); Veltys (data intelligence); KeaPrime (talent development); and Kea Executives (interim executives and coaching).
Kea & Partners is also part of two network of consulting groups: Co Conseil, a cooperative with other French consultancies including Algoé, Colombus Consulting and Weave; and The Transformation Alliance, an international network that further consists of Cordial (Sweden), h&z (Germany), MBS consulting (Italy) and Q5 (UK).
Angelos Souriadakis, President of Ylios, said that the entire team looks forward to join Kea & Partners, stating: “The joining of forces brings complementary capabilities together, and we share similar values and culture. In addition, it will provide our employees the opportunity to work on larger transformations and make more impact.”
