When BearingPoint went public in 2001, it did so without its European partners. And so when the public company was broken up into pieces and sold off following its bankruptcy last year, the European partners were largely unaffected. There was one exception: They no longer had a U.S. footprint. After a lengthy search, BearingPoint's European partners recently formed an exclusive alliance with West Monroe Partners, a fast-growing 300-person Chicago-based firm. To better understand the ramifications of the deal, Consulting's One-on-One sat down with Dean Fischer, West Monroe's CEO.
Consulting: Of all of the U.S. consulting firms out there, how did BearingPoint's European partners find you?
Fischer: In trying to determine how they were going to rebuild their capabilities in the U.S., they set out with a list of about 70 firms that they thought might make a good fit. They went through an extensive due diligence period. While we're very different sizes, we quickly discovered that there are tremendous cultural similarities in the way we go to market, treat our people, treat our clients, etc.
And the more we talked, the more we realized how much we had in common. I had a long-standing relationship with several of their leaders. BeaingPoint's French practice leader and the Nordic practice leader were both partners with me at Andersen. And so one of the reasons we approach the market similarly is that we were raised by the same people. And it engrained in us the same principals.
Consulting: What opportunities will the alliance provide both sides?
Fischer: This is a way for BearingPoint to better serve its clients based in Europe, many of which have operations in the U.S. And it came at a perfect time for us. Many of our clients are asking for help expand their operations in Europe, either for the first time or to expand upon their existing European operations. It couldn't have worked out better for both of our needs.
Consulting: What capabilities are you both adding as a result of the alliance?
Fischer: They've got about 3,000 consultants, which is about ten times our current size. But one of the things they liked about us was our ability to scale and grow. Historically, we've been growing 50 percent to 100 percent every year—with the exception of last year. So, not only can we keep up with them, but, in some areas, we can push them. Specifically, we have strength in serving private equity clients. We do a substantial amount of work with the PE market. This was the practice area I led at Andersen.
We help PE companies with due diligence and post merger integration. They don't do that work in Europe, yet. We also have a group consisting of industrial engineers that do process efficiency work. That's something they don't have. They are much stronger in the banking market and we'll use some of their help. In addition, they are very strong in SAP. And they are the number one SAP implementer in Europe. We've historically not done a lot there.
Consulting: How else are the two firms working together?
Fischer: We're going to be training together. They have an arraignment with Yale University, and we're going to participate in that. Few firms our size can offer their consultants that kind of experience. Internally, the reaction has been incredibly enthusiastic. Sometimes when consultants go to work for a smaller firm, they think they have to accept that they won't have the same level of training that they may have received at a larger firm. This is just so cool for our people. And, in turn, this will be huge for the firm. I strongly believe that he who treats his people the best wins.
Consulting: The alliance was formed just over a month ago, on March 24, but how is it going so far?
Fischer: In addition to existing clients, we are currently jointly pursuing about two dozen different client opportunities. It's just off to a wonderful start so far.
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