Mercer acquires Mettl, deal led by law firms JSA, Khaitan, SAM

Recently, human resources consulting firm Mercer acquired Gurugram-based online talent assessment firm Mettl for an undisclosed amount.

Mercer is the world's largest human resources consulting firm and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc., while Mettl is a leading Gurugram-based Online Assessment Platform and one of the fastest-growing Talent Assessment, Online Examination, & Certification Platform. This acquisition therefore marks Mercer's entry into the rapidly growing global talent assessment market.

In this regard, Mercer's India CEO Anish Sarkar had said, "Online talent assessment is a powerful tool that helps companies unlock the potential of their people. Mettl is a disruptive HR tech start-up that has pioneered a robust assessments platform... The combination of Mercer's pedigree and talent industry experience in India and Mettl's leading-edge and scalable proprietary technology platform will enable companies in India to improve their workforce as they prepare for the future of work amidst rapid digitisation."

Subsequently, Mettl's CEO Ketan Kapoor had said, "We are very proud of Mettl's success to date and joining Mercer will enable us to fulfil our aspirations of being a world leader in talent assessments... By leveraging Mercer's global footprint and leadership position, we can sustainably scale our presence and reach, helping companies avoid the cost of suboptimal hiring decisions amidst ongoing digital disruption."

Mercer was represented by J Sagar Associates (JSA), with a transaction team comprising Joint Managing Partner Shivpriya Nanda, Partner Daksh Ahluwalia, and Associates Adhiraj Gupta and Priyanka Murali. Partner Minu Dwivedi and Associate Tanisha Bhatia managed the employment-related aspects; Principal Associate Zain Pandit and Associate Tanisha Bhatia handled open-source software issues; and Partner Kumarmangalam Vijay took care of Tax matters.

The existing, selling investors Kalaari Capital and Blume Ventures, both of which are early-stage, technology-focused venture capital firms, were represented Khaitan & Co and the team was led by Partner Vineet Shingal.

The selling founders were represented by Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas (SAM) Partner Amit Khansaheb.