July 2019
Equiteq, the leading M&A advisory firm for companies in the knowledge economy, is pleased to announce that it has advised WGroup, a Philadelphia-based IT executive management consultancy, on its merger with Wavestone, a leading independent player in the European consulting market.
Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Radnor, Pennsylvania, WGroup is focused on delivering IT strategy, cost optimization, and operational improvement advisory services to IT leaders in large enterprises across North America. The company’s experience spans multiple verticals, such as Healthcare and Insurance, Media & Entertainment, Global Manufacturing, Retail, and Financial Services. This transaction accelerates the international development of Wavestone, particularly in the US, in line with Wavestone’s 2021 Strategic Plan. Jeffrey Vail, WGroup’s CEO, joins Wavestone's executive committee and will lead Wavestone’s business in the US after the post-merger integration program. Commenting on the transaction, Vail said: “After laying a 15-year foundation of persistent organic growth delivering world-class executive IT advisory to some of the best clients in the world, we’ve reached an inflection point. We are an ambitious team with our sights set on achieving market leadership in the US. To do so, we needed to deliver more service lines, greater breadth of expertise, around-the-globe capability, and overall, enhance our value to clients. Merging with Wavestone gives us this opportunity – today.” Pascal Imbert, Wavestone’s CEO said: “The US is a bellwether market in the consulting industry. We were impressed by WGroup’s leadership team and its ability to consistently expand its client base. We are eager to start working with WGroup’s team and thrive together seizing new opportunities in the US.” Regarding Equiteq’s role in the transaction, Vail said, “Equiteq was instrumental in helping WGroup through the maze of the process from day-1 to close. Thanks to everyone on the Equiteq team for your valuable partnership in helping us find the ideal strategic partner.” Nicodemo Esposito, Managing Director at Equiteq, commented, “WGroup has built a differentiated position within the IT consulting space, offering peer-level CIO advisory services to the leading IT executives in the market. We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Harry, Jeff, Rich, and the rest of the WGroup team and we wish them the best as they embark on this next phase of growth by driving the expansion of Wavestone’s US practice!” To see all of our deals, please click here.