Korn Ferry to acquire RPO giant AMS for $1.1Bn
CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES — Korn Ferry has agreed to acquire AMS, a UK-based RPO and talent solutions firm, from OMERS Private Equity for approximately $1.1 billion in cash and stock.
According to a company press release, Korn Ferry will fund the deal with $300 million in cash on hand and $581 million from its revolver, with 3.6 million Korn Ferry shares covering the equity component.
The deal is expected to close in fiscal Q2 2027, pending United States, UK, and Germany regulatory approvals. AMS, founded in 1996, has 8,000 colleagues in 120-plus countries and generates approximately $650 million in annual fee revenue across RPO, early careers, and contingent workforce services.
AMS’s long-term contracts give Korn Ferry revenue visibility
AMS brings Korn Ferry $1.5 billion in estimated remaining contracted fees — adding revenue predictability to Korn Ferry’s historically cyclical executive search mix.
The deal adds AMS‘s European and Asian RPO depth across financial services, technology, and life sciences — plus early careers and campus recruiting capability outside Korn Ferry’s executive search remit.
At 16,000-plus colleagues and one placement every 90 seconds, Korn Ferry-AMS will be the largest full-spectrum talent advisory and outsourcing platform globally.
“By bringing AMS into the Korn Ferry family, we are expanding our ability to help clients solve their most critical organizational challenges,” said Gary D. Burnison, CEO of Korn Ferry.
OMERS exits AMS as RPO market consolidation accelerates
AMS’s EBITDA is projected to grow from $100 million to $140 million within one year of close, with the deal immediately accretive to Korn Ferry EPS.
OMERS exits with a deal that validates AMS’s evolution from a recruitment outsourcing specialist into a full talent solutions platform spanning RPO, contingent workforce, and skills. At roughly 1.7 times annual fee revenue, the acquisition prices in AMS’s $1.5 billion backlog alongside current earnings.
“Combining AMS with Korn Ferry will create new opportunities for our clients, our teams, and accelerate our ability to shape the future of work,” said Gordon Stuart, CEO of AMS.
The global RPO market has consolidated around a handful of scaled platforms — AMS, Cielo, Allegis, and Pontoon among the largest — as enterprises prefer integrated talent partners over fragmented specialists.
The AMS deal extends Korn Ferry’s decade-long shift from retained search toward full organizational consulting — a transition that began with the 2015 Hay Group merger and now encompasses RPO at scale.
For AMS founder Rosaleen Blair — who will remain as Chair post-close — the deal validates the full-service talent advisory model she built from a single recruiter in 1996 into a $1.1 billion enterprise.
