Diana Marszalek 05 Aug 2021 // 4:25PM GMT
MELBOURNE — Teneo has acquired APAC executive search and advisory firm Anna Whitlam People, expanding the agency’s talent-related business across the region.
AWPeople — which specializes in corporate affairs, strategic communications, investor relations and marketing — will continue to operate under the leadership of founder and managing director Anna Whitlam.
Australia-based Whitlam will be part of Teneo’s global talent advisory leadership team and lead Teneo’s talent advisory operations across Asia Pacific.
The acquisition makes the firm’s global talent advisory and executive search team a 60-plus person operation under the watch of Chris Wearing, chairman of Teneo International.
The deal will give AWPeople’s team and clients access to Teneo’s global platform and wide range of advisory services, as well as access to opportunities on a global scale.
“We are delighted to welcome Anna and the broader AWPeople team to Teneo,” Wearing said. “Our Talent Advisory and executive search business has quickly grown to become a global operation serving client needs around the world. The addition of Anna and her team will also help us further expand the unique, integrated service offering we are able to provide CEOs and leading companies across the Asia-Pacific region.”
Buying AWPeople is the latest in a series of moves Teneo has made since CEO Declan Kelly resigned in June amid allegations of inappropriate behavior.
Following Kelly’s resignation, which stemmed from his behavior at a May 2 fundraiser for Global Citizen, Paul Keary, a Teneo co-founder who was serving as COO, was named the company’s new CEO. Former Xerox chief executive Ursula Burns was named chairwoman, filling another role Kelly held.
Teneo has also strengthened its APAC senior leadership bench. In July, Yvonne Koh joined Teneo as managing director in Singapore after less than a year as Edelman’s head of corporate for Asia-Pacific. Teneo has also bolstered its Hong Kong operation, which Patricia Heiberger has joined as a managing director.