Kornferry buys Whitehead Mann

(By Richard Holway 4.00pm 14th June 09) We warned in our article on 22nd May (to read Click here) that the executive search companies were having hard time and that a raft of mergers would soon be announced.

On Friday it was announced that US Kornferry had acquired the UK’s Whitehead Mann – See FT Whitehead Mann deal ends long pursuit) The FT reported just how tough executive search is in today’s climate “Searches worldwide have fallen 35 per cent during the past year, led by a 41 per cent decline in the financial services sector, says the Association of Executive Search Consultants, an industry body. Average fees also fell 6 per cent year on year, on top of a 35 per cent fall in overall revenue.”