Sia Partners buys Charlotte-based consulting firm Summus Group
Sia Partners, a Paris-headquartered management and technology consultancy, has acquired Summus Group, a Charlotte-based consulting firm.
Founded in 2012, Summus provides management and IT advisory services to large and middle-market companies in financial services, fintech, and healthcare. The firm’s offerings span business and IT transformation, risk advisory, digital change, modern project delivery, and information security.
Summus has 80 consultants across offices in Charlotte and Atlanta, and has completed hundreds of engagements across multiple Fortune 100 clients. The firm has been recognized as a top company by Consulting Magazine, Inc. 5000, and the Charlotte Business Journal.
Sia Partners’ acquisition of Summus will boost the firm’s US headcount to more than 500 consultants and its US revenues to $95 million. The France-based firm has 2,200 people across Europe, North America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, and annual revenues of $382 million.
“We are very excited to join Sia Partners,” said Wes Graham and Bill Sanders, managing partners at Summus Group. “This combination is a natural fit of two pure consulting players with a strong focus on the financial services industry, as Summus Group’s client portfolio and team expertise seamlessly complement Sia Partners’ existing capabilities in the US.”
The deal will expand Sia’s Charlotte office into its third largest US location and add a new office in Atlanta. The firm’s other US offices are in New York, Baltimore, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Seattle, and San Francisco.
The Summus acquisition is part of Sia’s plan to expand to 15 locations and more than 800 consultants in the US by 2023. The firm, like other European-origin firms, is looking to capitalize on rebounding demand in the world’s largest consulting market. Acquisitions offer a quick way to scale up.
“This move reaffirms Sia Partners’ position as a serious consulting player in the US banking market, with two flagship offices, in New York and Charlotte, combined to a nationwide projection with more than 300 expert consultants,” said Matthieu Courtecuisse, founder and CEO of Sia Partners. “It also strengthens our footprint in the Fintech space, from crypto to RegTech.”
The deal arrives hot on the heels of Sia’s acquisition of Canada-based consultancy Ethier last month. The transaction added more than 50 management consultants and boosted Sia’s Canadian headcount to 170+ people.
