BrazilKearney acquires Nordic procurement consulting firm Prokura
Global consulting firm Kearney has acquired Prokura, a 60-strong procurement and supply chain consultancy with offices in Denmark, Norway and Germany.
Founded in 2008, and led by partners with a background at McKinsey, Boston Consulting Group and Strategy&, Prokura has over the past thirteen years grown into a leading player in its field in the Nordic consulting market.
The firm helps public and private sector organisations with transforming their procurement and supply chain functions, from strategy and design through to execution. The consulting firm works across sectors, with Danfoss, Maersk and Novo Nordisk among some of its major clients.
Now part of Kearney, Prokura will continue to operate under its own brand, in a similar strategy to the one used by Boston Consulting Group for its procurement division Inverto. “With our backing and support, Prokura will have the perfect platform for growth and effective European expansion,” said Geir Olsen, Kearney’s European boss.
Prokura will work closely with Kearney’s global Strategic Operations and Procurement practices, which together house around 650 procurement and supply chain experts worldwide. Globally, privately-held Kearney (founded in 1937 by ex-McKinsey man Tom Kearney; formerly A.T. Kearney) has more than 4,000 consultants and staff across 60+ offices.
According to Olsen, the deal “consolidates our position as the market-leading procurement and supply chain consultants”. Indeed, procurement is one of Kearney’s sweet spots, and the firm holds high positions on several leading consulting rankings for procurement including those of Consultancy.org (global), Financial Times (UK), Forbes (US) and Brand Eins (Germany).
Christian Bang-Pedersen, a partner at Prokura (ex-McKinsey), said. “With the backing and support of Kearney’s global network and strong capabilities, the way will be paved for further growth and expansion in Europe. This is a strong ambition and a journey we are looking forward to embarking on.”
Other partners of Prokura are Jens Holbek, Christian Svane and Thor Bang-Ellingsen.
A rare move for Kearney
The deal is a rare move for Kearney, which typically prefers organic growth to inorganic bolt-ons. Over the past decade, the consultancy closed just two acquisitions: that of data analytics consultancy Cervello in the US (2019), and Quintel in the Netherlands (2011).
In 2008, the firm came close to merging with Booz & Company, although the deal eventually fell through. A few years later, Big Four giant PwC snapped up Booz for $1 billion.
In other recent major deals in the Nordic consulting scene, Valcon joined First Consulting late 2020 (and since then the group has rebranded as Valcon), and Bain & Company acquired home-grown strategy house Qvartz.
