The personnel consultancy Heidrick & Struggles, headquartered in Chicago, is turning to the German market for interim managers.

According to information from the FAZ, the listed company is taking over the Munich consulting firm Atreus, the previous market leader for the placement of temporary top positions in Germany.

Both sides have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

According to information from the FAZ, Atreus was valued at around 60 million euros.

The Atreus brand name will be retained, and the previous Atreus management will remain on board.

Tillman Neuscheler

Editor in Business.

  • Follow I follow

The market for interim managers has grown steadily in recent years.

A typical interim manager takes on a management position for 6 to 18 months, sometimes a little longer in cases of restructuring and for individual projects.

Interim candidates are sought for a wide variety of reasons, often following the sudden and unexpected absence of a manager.

In times of crisis, interim managers are in demand as a kind of firefighter.

External specialists are often required who are not firmly anchored in the company and therefore find it easier to deal with delicate missions.

They can crack down with a firm hand because they are not obligated to anyone in the company.

They are also wanted for temporary projects, such as the introduction of a new IT system.

Even in special situations such as the death of a manager, companies sometimes have to look for a replacement quickly in order to gain time.

Up until now, the large personnel consultancies had largely stayed out of the business, instead concentrating on their traditional business, the thorough and often time-consuming search for permanent candidates.

But now there are increasing signs that large consulting companies no longer want to leave the quick search for transition candidates to specialist brokers alone.

In Germany, the market has so far been considered fragmented, so there are many rather small brokers romping around there.

In America, Heidrick & Struggles took the first step into the interim business two years ago with the acquisition of the Business Talent Group.

With the acquisition of Atreus, which employs almost 80 people, Germany is now the second most important market for Heidrick & Struggles after the United States.

“This is a strategic decision for us,” says Nicolas von Rosty, Head of Heidrick & Struggles Germany.

Korn Ferry, the world's largest personnel consultancy, is also becoming increasingly interested in placing interim managers and has already acquired two companies in this sector in America last year and announced the purchase of Salo in mid-January.

The management consultancy Roland Berger has just strengthened itself with the small Munich-based consulting company Candidus, which also specializes in filling management positions on an interim basis.

Of the larger personnel consultancies, Boyden and Odgers Berndtson have already been active in the still young interim management market.

Anyone entering the market needs to be able to provide companies with a list of suitable candidates who could start work immediately within days – sometimes hours.

Atreus has set up a database for this purpose, which it says contains the names of around 15,000 managers and consultants who could be considered for quick assignments at short notice.