HRBS is a dominant player in the compensation and benefits space for inbound multinationals and has established market leadership in the luxury goods, retail and apparel-sourcing sectors across Asia.
Global consulting firm, Mercer, is all set to acquire compensation and benefits consultancy firm, Human Resources Business Solutions (HRBS). The wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, informed Nasdaq of this development on October 5, 2015.
The transaction is expected to close in the next 30 days.
HRBS is a fourteen year old company with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, Shanghai and Beijing. It employs approximately 45 professionals, and is a dominant player in the compensation and benefits space for inbound multinationals. It has established market leadership in the luxury goods, retail and apparel-sourcing sectors across Asia.
HRBS serves over 400 multinational companies across Asia. It not only provides executive compensation expertise and advisory services, but also runs an annual executive compensation survey across countries in Asia, in addition to a public listed directors’ remuneration online database,in Hong Kong and Singapore, respectively.
The acquisition is expected to extend Mercer’s leadership in Asia in compensation and benefits expertise, an area of critical importance in the region’s high-demand talent markets.
HRBS will enhance Mercer’s portfolio in the areas of remuneration strategy, pay structure design, short-and long-term incentive design and performance management. It will also bring a range of regular surveys to Mercer clients, including an Executive Pay Survey, an Employee Benefits Survey and industry-specific surveys across numerous sectors, including luxury goods, retail, garment buying, market research, marketing services, Internet and construction.
HRBS also conducts surveys on merit increases, bonuses, attrition and ad-hoc surveys on market conditions.
Susan Haberman, talent business leader for Mercer’s Growth Markets, says in an official communique, “Our clients across Asia are experiencing incredible growth and change and, as a result, they are facing new and greater complexities in talent management.”
“HRBS has an excellent reputation for talent consulting combined with consistent, highly sought after information. The acquisition will strengthen Mercer’s competitive position in its core talent business, and will fuel faster growth than we would have achieved organically. Together, we will bring the best possible information and solutions to our clients,” he adds
According to Elaine Ng, managing principal and co-founder, HRBS, this strategic move is a win: win for both the companies and their clients.
“Few organisations can offer high-quality data and advisory capabilities in executive compensation. By combining HRBS’ skillsets with those of Mercer, we will be redefining executive compensation solutions in the marketplaces of Asia,” he says.
