Top HR M&As of 2024 – which deals do you think made the list?

What a year 2024 has been for the HR sector! We’ve seen deal after deal, with some truly groundbreaking mergers and acquisitions (M&A) that have shaken up the market.

From fertility programs to HRM platforms, these M&As are ensuring that the world of work is becoming a more innovative place.

UNLEASH ranked the some of the top acquisitions of the year in order of expected revenues from combined companies. 

But which deals topped the charts?

7. Culture Amp’s acquisition of Orgnostic 

Back in March, Culture Amp acquired people analytics product, Orgnostic, with plans to utilize its vast organizational data to add to its AI platform and to “unlock accessible and multi-dimensional people analytics.”

The deal – which boasts a combined estimated revenue of $146 million – has allowed Culture Amp’s customers to gain several benefits, including accessing previously siloed data sources to help identify the driving forces behind critical people’s insights, such as poor engagement, productivity trends, employee attrition and salary gaps.  

This acquisition accelerates our strategy to elevate actionable insights to people leaders and organizational leaders that are contextual, and opinionated, and help them to make better decisions,” said Culture Amp’s CEO and Co-Founder Didier Elzinga. 

6. Phenom’s acquisition of Tydy

On a mission to tackle the ‘onboarding problem’, talent experience technology provider Phenom acquired Employee Data Platform (EDP) provider, Tydy.

The acquisition – which gives both businesses an estimated combined revenue of $234 million – aims to help align the candidate and employee experience through a single platform from “job discovery until the moment an employee is offboarded from an organization.”

Phenom’s CEO Mahe Bayireddi, explained to UNLEASH that clients ask for help in solving pre-boarding and on-boarding processes – so acquiring Tydy was a way in which it showed that it was listening to its customers.

He said: “We knew we needed to expand our Intelligent Talent Experience platform so they could make onboarding a phenomenal experience for everyone.”

5. Zellis Group’s acquisition of Benify

Zellis Group, a portfolio company of funds advised by Apax Partners LLP, agreed to acquire Benify, a provider of employee benefits administration software, from Vitruvian Partners.

Matt Macri-Waller, CEO of Benefex explained that together, the businesses share a common goal of “powering a truly global and exceptional employee experience for our customers.” 

He adds: “This acquisition develops the global capabilities of our products and services, whilst bringing together the depth of talent that sits across both organizations.”

The companies now have a estimated combined revenue of $288.8 million.

4. Mimecast’s acquisition of Code42

Back in July, global Human Risk Management (HRM) platform, Mimecast, announced its plans to acquire threat management and data loss prevention platform, Code42, giving a combined estimated revenue of $510 million.

The deal marked a “crucial step” in Mimecast’s plans to revolutionize how it manages and mitigates human-centered security risks, while also allowing room to expand on the success of existing technology partnerships.

Speaking exclusively to UNLEASH, Mimecast’s CEO, Marc Van Zadelhoff says: “This acquisition strengthens Mimecast’s position at the forefront of human risk management, transforming how organizations manage and stay ahead of internal and external threats.”

3. Deel’s acquisition of Hofy, Zavvy, and PaySpace

2024 was a busy year for Deel, as the company made not one, not two, but three large business deals: London-based device management startup Hofy; performance management and learning and development platform Zavvy; and Africa-based payroll giant PaySpace.

The combined estimated revenue of the deals equates to $620 million.

Founded in 2019, Deel has seen impressive growth over the past five years – it now employs 4,000 people across over 100 countries, and each acquisition marked a fundamental step for the business’s expansion. 

Speaking of Deel’s acquisition of Zavvy, CEO Alex Bouaziz shares: “Our customers told us they wanted a company that could offer payroll, HR and people management. Many companies have to use four or more different tools to manage the same capabilities we now have at one price.”

2. Progyny, Inc’s acquisition of Apryl

In a bid to expand fertility benefits, Apryl, a fertility benefit platform, was acquired by Progyny, Inc, a women’s health benefit solutions company. After the acquisition, the businesses have an estimated combined revenue of $1.1 billion.

Operating in over 100 different counties, Progyny supports multinational employers by providing flexibility to comply with the many different intricacies of country-specific laws, for example, those related to family building services, treatments, benefit design and fertility. 

The deal has allowed Progyny to better support employees across the globe – particularly those planning to build a family and those navigating fertility issues. 

Pete Anevski, CEO of Progyny, expressed: “Employers recognize the importance of providing fertility and family building benefits and want to be able to streamline these efforts to ensure their employees have equitable benefits and consistent high-touch experiences, regardless of where they live.”

1. SD Worx’s acquisition of F2A

European payroll giant SD Worx acquired Italian HR and payroll provider F2A, which had been owned by private investment firm Ardian since 2016.

Together, the companies have a estimated combined revenue of $1.1 billion.

Now, SD Worx and F2A’s customers – such as McCain, Costco, and Mercedes Benz – are able to utilize many more services, with SD Worx CEO Kobe Verdonck explaining that the business has “a very large software portfolio” and a huge European footprint.

He concludes: “I see only very positive things” from this deal – it is going to be good for our top line and bottom line.”