Tenzing to buy Willis Towers Watson's Saville Assessment

The investment into the subsidiary of the Nasdaq-listed, UK-based advisory, broking and consulting firm marks the eighth deal out of the GP's second fund, according to a press release. The fund, which held a final close on GBP 400m in June 2020, started investing in 2021, it said. It is now near-fully deployed expecting to make about nine investments in total, a spokesperson for the firm told Unquote.

As part of the acquisition, Saville will remain WTW's preferred assessment software partner and it will continue to support Saville's products in its client-facing activities, according to the press release. The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, it said.

The investment is set to support the business with a dedicated acquisitions director to support its M&A strategy in the UK and internationally, said the spokesperson. Further investment will be made into Saville's sales & marketing and new product launches, it said.

The GP seeks to leverage Saville Assessment's position in the psychometric assessment market amid a challenging time for talent retention among companies globally, it said.

In January 2023 the sponsor launched its Munich office, looking to expand into the German-speaking region, as reported. In the same month, it registered its third flagship fund with the UK Companies House, according to Unquote Data.

Company
Saville provides a suite of assessment tools, including Wave, its flagship personality questionnaires, as well as aptitude tests, talent analytics and situational judgment tests to predict workplace performance and identify high-potential talent. Its products are available in more than 35 languages, sold in 80 countries and utilised by brands, including Jaguar Land Rover, Ricoh and Perfetti Van Melle.

People
Saville Assessment − Rab MacIver (co-CEO and head of R&D).
Tenzing − Milan Kellner (investment lead).
WTW − Suzanne McAndrew (global employee experience business leader).

Advisers
Equity − Alantra (corporate finance); Osborne Clarke (legal); RSM (financial and tax due diligence); EY-Parthenon (commercial due diligence).
Vendor − Boxington (corporate finance); CMS (legal).
Management − Liberty Corporate Finance (corporate finance).

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