THE ADECCO GROUP ENTERS INTO EXCLUSIVE NEGOTATIONS TO ACQUIRE BPI GROUP

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, August 5, 2021 – The Adecco Group today announces it is reinforcing LHH’s position in the French market and enhancing its full- service HR Consulting and Advisory offering through the proposed acquisition of BPI Group. BPI Group is the third largest HR Consulting services provider in France with around EUR 40 million revenues and 300 employees. LHH France, a fully owned subsidiary of the Adecco Group, has entered into exclusive negotiations with Perceva, an independent investment company, to acquire the company.

John Morgan, President of LHH, commented: “This deal will offer our clients a larger breadth of services in advisory, talent development and our core career transition offering along with an intensified regional presence. Both LHH and BPI Group are mission- driven and people-oriented, and the combined company will draw from these cultural strengths to deliver exceptional opportunities for its clients, candidates and employees.”

LHH France’s existing career transition, talent development and workforce advisory services, will realise scale benefits when combined with BPI Group, whose areas of expertise also cover career transition, talent development and workforce advisory services. The transaction fits with LHH’s strategic ambition to expand in HR Advisory, both in existing services, which include restructuring, social strategy and revitalisation, and in new fields that BPI Group offers such as organisation and transformation, which focuses on organisational effectiveness and HR transformation. The acquisition thus improves the balance and broadens the scope of business activities across career transition, talent development and workforce advisory in LHH.

LHH France’s market position has centred around relationships with larger, national and international customers with operations in France. BPI Group’s large portfolio of customers has limited overlap to LHH France’s customer base. Rather, the company has built a strong market reputation in the faster growing local and regional markets, as well as good relationships with key local stakeholders. The acquisition therefore delivers access to markets LHH France has historically been less active in. BPI Group will also be in position to leverage opportunities as part of LHH, with a more granular connection to available jobs supporting career transition success rates, and through the Adecco Group’s eco-system with its extensive customer base. Consequently, LHH France’s growth opportunity is improved, with revenue synergies mainly anticipated from cross- and up-selling.
 
The future business is expected to make further use of digital technologies to secure significant productivity gains and deliver a superior customer experience, thus driving growth. Cost synergies are anticipated from optimising G&A and real estate costs.

The project has been presented to the employee representative bodies for consultation. The acquisition is anticipated to close in Q4 2021.

About LHH
In today’s marketplace, organisations are discovering the need to turn their attention inward to find their future talent. At LHH, we help companies see the possibilities in their people. Through assessments, coaching, upskilling, and transitioning, companies can realise the untapped potential within their own workforce, resulting in increased productivity, morale, and brand affinity. A division of The Adecco Group – the world’s leading talent advisory and solutions company – LHH’s 4,000 coaches and colleagues work together with more than 7,000 organisations in over 60 countries around the world. We make a difference to everyone we work with, and we do it on a global scale. We have the local expertise, global infrastructure, and industry-leading technology to manage the complexity of critical workforce initiatives and the challenges of transformation.

For more information: https://www.lhh.com/fr/fr/

About the Adecco Group
The Adecco Group is the world’s leading talent advisory and solutions company. We believe in making the future work for everyone, and every day enable more than 3.5 million careers. We skill, develop and hire talent in 57 countries, enabling organisations to embrace the future of work. As a Fortune Global 500 company, we lead by example, creating shared value that fuels economies and builds better societies. Our culture of inclusivity, entrepreneurship and teamwork empowers our 30,000 employees. We are proud to have been consistently ranking on of the “World’s Best Workplaces” by Great Place to Work®. The Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ADEN).

Important notice about forward-looking information
Information in this release may involve guidance, expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions, or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to Adecco Group AG as of the date of this release, and we assume no duty to update any such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Factors that could affect the Company’s forward-looking statements include, among other things: global GDP trends and the demand for temporary work; the impact of the global outbreak of novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19); changes in regulation of temporary work; intense competition in the markets in which the Company operates; integration of acquired companies; changes in the Company’s ability to attract and retain qualified internal and external personnel or clients; the potential impact of disruptions related to IT; any adverse developments in existing commercial relationships, disputes or legal and tax proceedings.

For further information please contact:

Investor Relations
investor.relations@adeccogroup.com
+41 (0)44 878 88 88

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