Ottawa staffing firm MaxSys sold to Agilus Work Solutions

After 30 years as the sole owner of Ottawa-based staffing firm MaxSys, Bryan Brulotte has closed a deal to sell the company to Agilus Work Solutions, the largest privately owned, full-service recruitment firm in Canada. The sale was finalized Wednesday, Brulotte told OBJ, and contributes to Agilus’s ongoing effort to expand its reach across the country. Terms were not disclosed. “This is an exciting opportunity,” Brulotte said in an interview on Thursday. “Agilus is a fantastic company with great people across the country. They’re the kind of company that we really feel we have a strategic alignment with.” Brulotte started MaxSys in late 1993, eventually expanding the firm to nine offices across the country. When discussions about the acquisition began, he felt it was the right time to sell. “As an owner, you’re often thinking about selling at the opportune time and when it makes sense,” said Brulotte. “For myself, that was part of a number of factors that came into play. One of them is my age, thinking that I’m going to be turning 60 this year and perhaps I should be thinking about monetizing or taking some chips off the table. That’s a very big factor later in life, considering your family and where they are in their lives.” It’s the second acquisition by Agilus in the last 12 months. As one of the top performing recruitment firms in the country, Brulotte said Agilus has long been one of his most significant competitors. Agilus, which was launched 48 years ago, is both older and larger, with a staff of 175 professionals across Canada. Brulotte said MaxSys has almost 60 employees, most of whom are based in Ottawa. “It’s a relationship of mutual respect,” he said. “I’ve been in this field for 30 years and I sit on the national board for the Association of Staffing and Employment Firms, so I’ve been around the block and seen a large number of other strategic players in this space across Canada. I’ve always admired Agilus. I found them to be one of the best competitors that we’ve gone up against.” Brulotte said the two companies’ alignment allowed for a swift sale, with discussion of a possible merger beginning only about two months ago. “With the same strategic vision, outlook and objectives we share, it was a natural alignment when talking about potential acquisitions,” he said. “I’ve made eight acquisitions of my own since 2010, but I’ve participated in about 70 different acquisition processes. It gave me a very good appreciation of an effective process to maximize our time and our productivity. So it wasn’t rushed; it was very effective and very tight.” For Agilus, Brulotte said MaxSys offers geographical advantages, as well as opportunities to expand its services into new sectors. “One of the key fundamentals of this transaction is that MaxSys fulfils an area of order fulfilment and client service that Agilus doesn’t serve right now,” he said. “When we talk about the federal government, national defence or health science, and in some geographic regions across the country from Vancouver to Halifax, we are in places where Agilus are not physically present or have a large presence. What we’re doing is very complementary and strengthening the company.” Agilus CEO Craig Brown said in a news release the deal will expand the company’s national presence, bolster its offerings in sectors such as health sciences, defence and the federal government and help it keep up with evolving trends in the rapidly changing Canadian labour market. Over the next few months, MaxSys will operate as a standalone subsidiary under its own name – with added Agilus co-branding – while the company undertakes a discovery process to determine how to proceed long-term. Brulotte said that because MaxSys fulfills unique needs not currently covered by Agilus, he doesn’t anticipate any layoffs at this time. For his part, Brulotte will be joining the Agilus leadership team as an executive vice-president. “I’m so happy for our team. I think this is an opportunity for the employees of MaxSys to participate in a larger company, and as a result, I think it’ll open up a lot of career opportunities for many people,” he said. “As we went through the process, there were several interested parties and Agilus was chosen in part and to a large degree because they have the best opportunities for our employees. It was a great fit for the team we have across Canada.”