nGAGE, one of the UK's largest privately owned specialist recruitment firms, has acquired Henlow Recruitment Group, a QuantTech recruitment business operating in the UK, Europe, USA and the Middle East.

Tim Cook (nGAGE CEO) commented, "This is another significant milestone for nGAGE and is consistent with our strategy to back high-quality management teams to achieve their growth ambitions in international markets. With the firepower of nGAGE supporting Henlow, we believe it has enormous potential to grow strongly over the years ahead. Investment in businesses in the STEM sector has changed the balance of our Group significantly over the last five years, with STEM now accounting for about 40% of our business. nGAGE's international business has grown from 5% to almost 25% of NFI over the last two years. I'm delighted at the latest addition to the Group and am genuinely excited about working with the management at Henlow.”

Henlow joint CEOs, Matthew and Andrew Clarke, added: "From the first meeting with the nGAGE management team, we felt there was excellent chemistry, and we knew they would be the right partner for us. The nGAGE model was just what we were looking for – support to enable us to accelerate the growth of Henlow, whilst retaining our autonomy and the strong brand we have created. This is an exciting time for everyone who works at Henlow and this development will provide significant capital for expansion of our business and opportunities for everyone who works with us. We will be opening our first US office in early 2019 utilising the international platform nGAGE has built; the next step in developing what we believe is a truly remarkable business."

Matthew and Andrew launched Henlow in 2013 having previously spent a number of years with a technology recruitment business. Since then, they have grown the business to over 50 people operating in more than 20 countries in the specialist sectors of quant analytics, quant development, big data, cloud, development and cybersecurity.

nGAGE's Tim Cook said: “Matthew and Andrew have achieved an enormous amount with Henlow in just six years. With its specialist focus on Quant and Tech and the majority of business being conducted outside the UK, it is aligned perfectly with nGAGE's strategy of international growth in STEM. In recent years our international business has been growing at over 50% while our UK business continues to show year on year growth. We are very excited to work with Matthew, Andrew and the team to help them execute their plan and accelerate Henlow's growth.”

nGAGE Group CEO Tim Cook, CFO Andrew Burchall and COO Adam Herron managed the transaction for nGAGE.

Due diligence was carried out by RSM Corporate Finance and Grant Thornton's CDD team.

Legal advice was provided to nGAGE by Shoosmiths LLP.

Mishcon De Reya LLP and Deloitte Corporate Finance acted for Henlow.