Corporate Executive Board to Acquire SHL

The combination brings together two complementary businesses and aims to create a foremost source of insight on the measurement and management of talent for business and government.

Arlington, Va. — July 2

The Corporate Executive Board, a member-based advisory company, announced it has signed an agreement to acquire cloud-based talent measurement and management services firm SHL for $660 million in cash.

The combination brings together two complementary businesses and aims to create a foremost source of insight on the measurement and management of talent for business and government.

Marrying CEB’s best practices, insights and data with SHL’s assessments, predictive analytics and technology platform will aim to create a global organization with a greatly enhanced capability to help clients manage talent, transform operations and reduce risk.

The acquisition will also aim to expand the addressable market of both companies through an increased global presence across all major developed and emerging markets, enhancing CEB’s ability to scale and extend its existing platform with technology-driven services.

The combined company will offer career opportunities for a talented base of more than 3,000 employees as part of a larger organization committed to advancing the science and practice of talent management.

In 2011, SHL had revenues of $209.8 million; adjusted to weed out taxes and other interest, known as EBITDA, its revenue was $56.9 million. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012.

Source: CEB