Willis Towers Watson sells Saville Assessment

Saville Assessment, the psychometric analytics provider, is being acquired by a private equity business for an undisclosed sum.

Its current owner, Willis Towers Watson (WTW), which acquired the consultancy eight years ago for £42 million, is selling the business to the private equity firm Tenzing, a specialist tech investor in high-growth UK and European SMEs typically valued between £10m and £200m.

Rab MacIver, co-CEO and head of research and development 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 Willis Towers Watson’s preferred assessment software partner, and WTW will continue to support Saville’s products in its client-facing activities.

Suzanne McAndrew, global employee experience business leader at WTW, said: “Tenzing offers Saville an excellent opportunity to develop and thrive as it enters its next phase of growth. We look forward to continuing to partner with Saville, and its colleagues, to bring winning, integrated solutions to our clients.”

Saville, which won talent acquisition prizes at the last two Personnel Today Awards, provides tools including Wave, its personality questionnaires, as well as aptitude tests, talent analytics and situational judgment tests.

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 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.”

Saville’s products are available in over 35 languages, sold in 80 countries, and have an industry-leading rating by the British Psychological Society.

The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2023.

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