Kelly Enters Agreement to Acquire Specialty Talent Solutions Company, Motion Recruitment Partners, LLC

• Transformational acquisition strengthens scale and capabilities of Kelly’s staffing and consulting solutions across technology, telecommunications, and government specialties in North America, and recruitment process outsourcing (RPO) solutions globally
  
• Provides Motion Recruitment Partners and its leading brands with a highly invested partner to enable continued growth
• Demonstrates Kelly’s commitment to rapidly redeploying capital and leveraging its strong balance sheet in pursuit of inorganic investments in higher-margin, higher-growth specialties
  

TROY, Mich., May 03, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Kelly (Nasdaq: KELYA, KELYB) (“the Company”), a leading global specialty talent solutions provider, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Motion Recruitment Partners, LLC (“MRP”), from Littlejohn & Co., LLC (“Littlejohn”), a private investment firm based in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Under the terms of the agreement, Kelly will acquire MRP for $425 million in cash to be paid at close, with additional earnout potential of up to $60 million based on certain performance criteria. The Company expects to fund the transaction through debt and available capital, including the rapid redeployment of more than $100 million from the sale of Kelly’s European staffing operations in January 2024. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The transaction will significantly build upon Kelly’s market-leading solutions portfolio, which includes Kelly Science, Engineering & Technology (SET), the second and fourth largest life sciences⁽¹⁾ and engineering⁽²⁾ staffing provider, respectively, and a leading provider of technology, telecommunications, and government workforce solutions; KellyOCG, a top provider of RPO⁽³⁾ and managed service provider (MSP)⁽⁴⁾ solutions; Kelly Professional & Industrial, one of the ten largest industrial⁽⁵⁾ staffing providers; and Kelly Education, the largest provider of K-12 education talent⁽⁶⁾.

Following the close of the transaction, MRP will deliver services through its existing operating companies and brands with the goal of expanding Kelly’s capabilities and significantly increasing market share across several key areas:

• Motion Recruitment’s technology staffing and consulting business will significantly expand Kelly SET’s delivery platform and establish the business as a top ten provider of tech talent solutions in the U.S.;
• Sevenstep will bring an industry leading brand and highly attractive client base in both RPO and MSP to elevate KellyOCG’s RPO segment to consistently rank in the top five globally;
• Motion Telco will add a complementary client portfolio and set of delivery capabilities to Kelly’s existing telecommunications specialty to create a market-leading telecommunications offering; and
• TG Federal will bring a dedicated new platform in government technology subcontracting with strong partnerships to build upon Kelly SET’s success in the government space.

In alignment with Kelly’s long-term strategy, the acquisition of MRP will enhance the revenue growth potential of the Company and accelerate EBITDA margin expansion. It will build upon the significant EBITDA margin expansion Kelly has delivered through actions implemented in 2023 and the sale of the Company’s European staffing operations in January 2024.