A new chapter has begun for the HKP Group. The consultancy firm founded in 2011 by Michael H. Kramarsch specialises in HR management, remuneration and corporate governance, and will become part of Mercer. The HKP Group has more than 100 employees, including around 30 partners and employee shareholders. Mercer Germany is part of the US group Marsh McLennan and advises on company pension schemes, HR strategies and remuneration. Mercer employs around 700 people in Germany, around 100 of whom work in the Careers division, where the HKP Group will dock. Mercer expects „more than 100 employees“ to transfer from the Frankfurt-based consultancy.

Founder and Managing Partner Kramarsch will accompany the integration into the Career division at Mercer as part of the European management team, and will become a member of the Executive Board of Mercer Germany. „There will then be a time when I will move into more of an advisory role,“ he said in an interview with Börsen-Zeitung. The 54-year-old is not yet revealing exactly when this is likely to happen.

However, he could imagine becoming active as an entrepreneur once again or becoming involved in supervisory boards. Born in Austria, he is already involved in several different start-ups through his investment company Merlin, which he founded in 2010, with a focus on investments in HR tech companies.

Kramarsch worked as Managing Director at Neumann Consulting, and as Managing Partner at Towers Watson, before founding the HKP Group at the age of 40. The energetic manager is also a founding member and Chairman of the Board of the Association of Independent Remuneration Consultants (VUVB), and is a lecturer in training and further education programmes for managers and supervisory boards.

There were strategic reasons for selling the HKP Group, he says: „We have had a great success story, but the lack of internationality has increasingly proved to be a stumbling block for large projects.“ After a strategy process last year, the conclusion was „that we cannot address this in a meaningful way on our own“.

According to Kramarsch, private equity investors also expressed interest in the consulting firm, but this idea was quickly rejected by the HKP Group. Kramarsch sees Mercer as a partner „that suits us in terms of its organisation and culture“. Martin Haep, CEO of Mercer Germany, even speaks of a „perfect fit“. After intensive dialogue, including at partner level, both sides entered into closer negotiations in July. „We had been engaged since July, so to speak,“ says Kramarsch. The takeover agreement was recently signed. The future single owner Mercer has not disclosed the purchase price or valuation.

In any case, a lack of internationality should no longer be an issue in the future: Mercer has around 25,000 employees in more than 40 countries worldwide. If, as expected, a good 100 colleagues from the HKP Group decide to make the move, they would double the number of staff in Mercer's Careers division in Germany. A team of six, with equal numbers of employees from both transaction partners, will manage the integration. Initially, the HKP Group will also be retained as a brand; a long-term decision has not yet been made on this topic.

„Regardless of the legal structures, it is crucial that we form thematic units in which people can work well together,“ emphasises Haep. „We will completely merge the business models of the Career division and the HKP Group.“ The 56-year-old sees the acquisition as a „growth case“. The strategic goal is to become the „leading people consultancy“. The approaches of Mercer Career and HKP would complement each other well: „We often address HR departments, for example, while HKP is strong in addressing supervisory boards,“ explains Haep.

Within the group portfolio of Mercer's parent company Marsh McLennan, there are further opportunities for cooperation. In addition to the insurance broker Marsh and the reinsurance specialist Guy Carpenter, the group also includes the management consultancy Oliver Wyman. „There are clear links to Oliver Wyman,“ says Haep. He sees the networking of people and strategy consulting as a growth lever.

In both areas, the mandates often involve supporting change processes in companies. „There are still many opportunities to be created,“ Haep is convinced. Both Oliver Wyman and the HKP Group are also strongly positioned in the financial sector.

However, supporting a transformation in-house can also be a challenge for two companies that want to form a leading people consultancy, admits HKP founder Kramarsch. „The employees are the central assets of a consulting firm, they have to see a perspective for themselves,“ he emphasises. How well this works can only be judged with a little distance. „But we certainly don't need to hire an HR consultant.“