NIIT acquires learning specialist St. Charles Consulting Group

NIIT, an India-based talent development and managed training services firm, has acquired St. Charles Consulting Group, a St. Charles, IL-based talent development consultancy.

Founded in 2002 by former partners of Arthur Andersen’s internal training unit, St. Charles provides consulting, design, implementation, and managed services for strategic learning programs to professional services firms and Fortune 500s. The firm’s solutions portfolio helps address areas including strategic transformation, financial impact, future workforce, risk mitigation, and learner empowerment.

St. Charles has a network of more than 500 consultants, with 126 employees listed on LinkedIn.

NIIT’s acquisition of St. Charles will grow its learning consulting practice and expand its presence in the professional services sector. The deal is part of the Gurgaon-headquartered company’s stated goal of accelerating growth through investments that add new capabilities.

St. Charles will join the wholly owned subsidiary NIIT (USA) Inc.

"Learning and Development is at the epicenter of change in a post-pandemic world that is going through rapid business and industry transformation. As organizations strive to build and retain talent and skills for a future-ready workforce, L&D is leading the way on many key initiatives. St. Charles Consulting Group brings deep expertise and experience in building strategic learning programs which are in high demand across our customer base,” said Sapnesh Lalla, CEO and executive director of NIIT Ltd.

NIIT was founded in 1981 to help India’s nascent IT industry overcome HR-related challenges, and has since grown to 2,200 employees. The firm’s corporate learning group offers managed training services to companies globally, while its skills and careers business offers learning and talent development programs to individuals and corporate learners.

NIIT delivers 150,000 training days annually and has locations in India, China, Europe, and North America. The firm works with clients across industries and delivers training in IT, financial services, knowledge process outsourcing, management, multi-vocational skills, marketing, and professional life skills, among other areas.

“The time couldn’t be better to join forces with NIIT to bring a broader array of capabilities to our clients. The two firms bring complementary learning capabilities and offerings which will allow us to more fully serve our clients and be even more competitive in the marketplace,” said Larry Durham, president of St. Charles Consulting Group.