Consolidation of research and consulting firms has been underway for a number of years. So it comes as no surprise that Oliver Wyman, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos., would seek to broaden its reach in the management consulting business with the acquisition of Celent LLC, a Boston-based R&C firm whose reputation was built doling out advice on the strategic application of technology in the financial industry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The deal, which was inked earlier this month but officially announced today, was one of the worst kept secrets in the consulting community. As early as December, Celent’s clients had been informed of the transaction and research reports were being tagged as “Celent, a unit of Oliver Wyman.”
The merger— first broached by Oliver Wyman six or seven years ago—will infuse Celent with additional resources to compete for larger, multimillion-dollar consulting jobs with major financial institutions globally, according to Celent founder and CEO Octavio Marenzi, who assumes a director position within Oliver Wyman, but will remain based in Paris.
In addition, Marenzi expects the merger will mean expanded coverage into risk management, and possibly Celent’s entry into other verticals besides financial services.
For Oliver Wyman—with 2,500 employees in 40 countries—the decision to buy FinTech expertise rather than build it was a no-brainer, and a clear way to fast-track its own growth objectives. “In pure numbers, we grew very, very aggressively” in recent years—23 percent, says Marenzi, the majority owner of Celent and whose earlier career consulting gigs have included TowerGroup and Meridien Research (now Financial Insights).
The acquisition will usher in few changes for Celent’s management team. The firm will operate under the Celent brand, serving the banking, insurance and securities and investments verticals, and will maintain its offices in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Tokyo, London and Paris.
