Private equity-backed Malt has acquired COMATCH, a German marketplace for independent business management consultants and industry experts.
With Europe’s freelancing market valued at EUR 355 billion euros, Malt projects to become the largest marketplace for highly skilled freelancers in the region.
The acquisition of COMATCH means Malt’s access to high-skilled freelancers and business consultants will grow its network and take the business to EUR 1 billion in business volume by 2024 with access to a community of 500,000 freelancers serving 60,000 companies.
Who is behind Malt and COMATCH?
COMATCH was founded in 2014 by McKinsey alumni Dr. Christoph Hardt and Dr. Jan Schächtele and employs over 130 people in Berlin, Paris and London. Malt was founded in 2013 by Vincent Huguet (CEO) and Hugo Lassiège (CTO), with Alexandre Fretti as Managing Director. Malt is present in France, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Malt has received financial backing from investors including Eurazeo, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Kerala, Serena, and Isai.
Malt’s takeover of COMATCH, reportedly Europe’s leading consulting marketplace, will boost its access to 15,000 top independent management consultants and industry experts.
Malt has a community of 320,000 freelancers, the largest in Europe, according to the online jobs platform. Combined, the two companies work with 80% of the CAC-40 and DAX-40 companies and together will build the largest European client network with more than 1,000 enterprises.
Malt-COMATCH acquisition to create 150 new roles
The acquisition will see 150 new roles being created bringing the total employee count to 600 by the end of 2022. The extension of services also means that dedicated teams will work across eleven regions and countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, the Middle East and North Africa, the Netherlands, Nordics, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
“The acquisition sends a strong signal of Malt’s place in the ecosystem at a time of tremendous growth in the European freelance market, currently valued at 355 billion euros,” said Malt. “Fueled by digital transformation and the increasing need to fill specific roles, both companies have witnessed a sharp uptake in client demand for independent resources,” said the company in a statement.
