Kelly Services (NASDAQ: KELYA, KELYB) sold its Ayers Group business to Keystone Partners. The business was a division of KellyOCG and provides outplacement, executive coaching and leadership development services.
The deal will sharpen KellyOCG’s focus on RPO and MSP solutions, according to Kelly.
“This transaction reflects our commitment to directing resources to specialties where KellyOCG is well positioned to compete and win over the long term,” KellyOCG President Tammy Browning said in a press release.
Terms of the transaction were not announced.
Keystone Partners is a portfolio company of private equity firm Silver Oak Services Partners and provides outplacement, executive coaching and leadership development. It’s based in Boston.
“Joining forces with The Ayers Group builds upon our strengths and extends our reach, reinforcing our mission to empower organizations and individuals to navigate and succeed in an ever-evolving work environment,” Tim Baldwin, CEO of Keystone Partners, said in a press release.
The Ayers Group was founded in 1975 and is based in New York City.
The sale of The Ayers Group is the latest in a series of transactions aimed at optimizing Kelly’s operating model, unlocking capital and strengthening the company’s competitive position in higher-margin, higher-growth specialties, according to Kelly. These transactions include selling its European staffing operations to Gi Group, monetizing noncore real estate holdings and unwinding Kelly’s cross-shareholding arrangement with Persol. In addition, Kelly sold its operations in Brazil in 2020 and its Russian operations in July 2022.
Separately, Kelly also recently acquired Motion Recruitment Partners.