De Bellas & Co., the leading investment banking firm serving the Staffing and Workforce Management industries exclusively, reported today that 32 M&A transactions were announced or completed in Q1 2017. This represents a decline of 16% from Q1 2016. This decline is due, surprisingly, primarily to a decline from twelve to four transactions in IT Staffing. This leads us to conclude that this decline is an anomaly and not indicative of current trends.
Private staffing acquirers continue to be more active than their public counterparts, accounting for 78% of all Q1 transactions. Private Equity Groups continue to invest in large platform acquisitions. Commercial staffing activity increased from four to seven transactions YOY. Warehousing, e-commerce, automotive and construction are the primary segments driving demand for light industrial temporary workers.
