Alantra advises Tenzing on its acquisition of Saville Assessment from WTW

Apr 2023

Buy-side advisory

London – Alantra, the global investment banking firm, has advised European tech investor Tenzing on its agreement with WTW, a leading global advisory, broking and solutions company, to acquire its talent assessment business, Saville Assessment (“Saville”).

The investment will see Tenzing acquire a market leader in psychometric assessment at a time when hiring and retaining the right talent has never been more critical for organisations. With nearly 20 years of experience in this fast-evolving industry, Saville is ideally placed to support its clients for growth through innovative talent strategies.

Saville provides a suite of award-winning assessment tools, including Wave, its flagship personality questionnaires, as well as aptitude tests, talent analytics and situational judgment tests to accurately predict workplace performance and identify high-potential talent. Its products are available in over 35 languages, sold in 80 countries, and utilised by global brands, including Jaguar Land Rover, Ricoh and Perfetti Van Melle. The business’ reputation for superior scientific validity and predictive accuracy has earned Saville the industry-leading rating from the British Psychological Society (BPS).  

With Tenzing’s backing, Saville will benefit from further investment into sales and marketing and new product launches, using the Wave model, to drive accelerated growth in the UK and internationally. To support its evolution, the business will be able to opt-in for support from Tenzing’s entrepreneur-led Growth Team, drawing on the expertise of a Sherpa, Entrepreneurs Panel, Subject Specialists and a dedicated Acquisitions Director. 

Tenzing was advised by Richard Holden, UK Head of Business Services, Alex Trevor, Chris J Bates and Julia Hussain.  

Richard Holden, Partner and UK Head of Business Services, commented, “Saville’s is a highly productised science-led assessment business that has an exceptional brand in the talent management market. Its repeatable solutions play strongly to the current skills shortages that many growing blue chip companies face, whether in hiring or retaining and incentivising existing employees. This deal builds on the Alantra Business Services team’s credentials in Professional Services and Human Capital Solutions and we look forward to working closely with the Management team and Tenzing to support their ambitious growth plans.”

Milan Kellner, Investment Lead at Tenzing, said, “Having spent over two decades developing its award-winning assessment tools, Saville has a well-earned position in the market as the leading provider for scientific validity, giving its clients the confidence to make the best people decisions. We’re really excited to partner with the team there, share our extensive expertise in the HCM market and look forward to leveraging the full extent of our Growth Team to help further enhance its technology, invest in its go-to-market strategies and further expand its global footprint. We are grateful for Richard and the wider Alantra team’s support in getting this deal over the line with us.”

Rab MacIver, Co-CEO and Head of R&D at Saville Assessment, commented, “By leveraging the Tenzing Growth Team’s expertise there is a real opportunity to accelerate the growth of our business together. Tenzing has a strong appreciation for the science that underpins Saville’s assessment solutions and the ambition to unlock the true potential of our business. The whole team are excited about the opportunity to bring new and enhanced solutions to more of our clients.” As part of the acquisition, Saville will remain WTW’s preferred assessment software partner, and WTW will continue to support Saville’s products in its client-facing activities.