Cepheïd Consulting joins forces with French counterpart CMI Stratégies

Boutique management consulting firm Cepheïd Consulting has joined forces with larger counterpart CMI Stratégies, creating a 70-strong consultancy with offices in Paris and Madrid.

The merger into CMI Stratégies comes after “several years of collaboration” between the two consulting firms, said Pierre Courrieu, one of the founding partners of Cepheïd Consulting. By now combining with CMI Stratégies, the firm will be able to broaden its offerings and make more impact at its clients.

In a release announcing the deal, CMI Stratégies and Cepheïd Consulting brand their merger as one that brings together complementary expertise and sector knowledge, as well as providing more muscle for further growth.

Established in 1986, CMI Stratégies focuses on strategic, management and transactions services, with the government, healthcare, pharma, education and private equity sectors its sweet spot. Over the past years, the consulting firm has booked back-to-back double-digit growth, with pre-deal headcount at around 50 consultants.

Cepheïd Consulting was founded in 2006 and has since established a particularly strong track record in the telecom sector, while also working with other groups in the public and private sector. The 25-strong team provides a suite of management and organisation related consultancy services, and is led by four partners: co-founders Guillaume Canu and Pierre Courrieu, and Matthieu Garreau and Issam Balaazi.

“The joining of forces enables us to extend and complement our models in order to work on more ambitious projects, in France and abroad. It will also allow us to expand our offerings at the crossroads of our sectors, such as digital health, smart cities, energy transition and infrastructure investment funds,” said Marc Lefrançois, a partner at CMI Stratégies.

The integration will see Cepheïd Consulting retain its brand for the coming months (including the added tagline ‘Part of CMI Stratégies’), with a rebranding to be unveiled in the second half of 2022, confirmed Valérie Boisgibault from CMI Stratégies. “Working together in co-creation, we will seek to find common ground in our branding.”