Aon Hewitt has come a long way since the merger of the two companies in 2010.  2012 revenues were $3.9bn, accounting for a little more than one-third of Aon plc’s total revenue. Across its HR Solutions business, which includes both consulting and outsourcing, Aon Hewitt has ~30,000 employees, ~20,000 clients, and operates in ~90 countries. Organizationally, the company is divided int[...]

Accenture announced today that it is to acquire Procurian, the largest procurement BPO pureplay globally, for $375m. Around Procurian 780 employees are expected to join Accenture on completion of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of 2013. This is a major consolidation of the procurement BPO vendor landscape, with, by NelsonHall’s estimate, the number two player global[...]

IBM and Synnex Corp. have announced that IBM is to sell its global customer management services (CMS) BPO business to Synnex for $505m: $430m in cash and $75m in stock (representing less than 5% equity ownership of Synnex). The purchase price includes an estimated 40-50% in intangible assets. IBM expects to recognize a total pre-tax gain on the sale of between $125m and $175m. The operations be[...]

Recruitment Process Outsourcing Last week, I zeroed in on specific market activity within the payroll, learning and RPO service lines. Today, I am taking a closer look at H1 2013 activity in benefits administration and MPHRO and considering what we should expect in H2 2013 based on NelsonHall’s recent HRO Confidence Index. Benefits Administration Contract signings aside, t[...]

Now that H1 2013 is complete, it is time to recap on highlights and trends in the HRO world. Overall Activity There was a healthy number of new contracts awarded across all HRO service lines in H1 2013. There was, however, an increase in organizations changing their existing service provider, particularly within benefits administration and RPO. For the last few years, attention [...]

On July 18, 2013 Pinstripe and Ochre House announced a merger to become a global RPO player. The combined company, Pinstripe Ochre House, includes TAAHEED and Carmichael Fisher, acquired by Ochre House in 2012 to expand its global RPO capability in the Middle East and North Africa. Globally the combined company has 767 employees and 88 clients served in 43 countries. U.S. based Pinstr[...]

Accenture's seven-year BPO contract with Swedish steel manufacturer SSAB announced this week will see it providing accounts payable, accounts receivable, some CMS activities as well as operational procurement, sourcing and category management for selected country operations in Europe. Accenture has had a long history of providing FAO services to manufacturing companies in the Scandinav[...]