ZRG Partners buys its way into Spain

ZRG Partners, the global talent advisory firm backed by private equity investor RFE Investment Partners, has entered Spain by acquiring the Madrid executive search business formerly known as Blacksmith, in a deal announced on 11 September 2026.

The acquisition is ZRG's first entry into a continental European market through a purchase. Its earlier deals had been concentrated in the United States, the United Kingdom and Chile, and the firm says it will evaluate further European acquisitions in the coming months.

ZRG sells retained executive search, middle-management search, on-demand talent, strategy and transformation work and culture consulting. Its clients sit across North America, Europe, South America and Asia, in sectors that include financial services, life sciences and private equity.

The firm's distinguishing layer is Zi, a proprietary digital platform that combines talent intelligence, candidate insights and process automation. ZRG uses it to run executive searches faster than the traditional retained-search method allows, and it positions the firm against the partnership model of the established search houses.

Founded in 1999, ZRG grows by buying established local boutiques and folding their client relationships and consultants into that platform. This roll-up model, now carrying more than 20 acquisitions, lets the firm enter a market with a working team on the first day and skip the slow work of recruiting consultants one by one.

The Spanish team arrives with its own acquisition history, because Blacksmith had operated since July 2023 under the umbrella of a Philadelphia-based leadership advisory firm that bought it to expand into Spain.

Alberto Herrero spent more than 20 years leading Blacksmith as a boutique focused on the financial industry and professional services. He will now run the business as managing director in Spain and will also lead ZRG's financial services practice across Europe.

That second role builds on ZRG's August 2025 acquisition of NextCap Search, a boutique specialising in senior investment banking and financial services placements, which deepened the practice Herrero now takes over at European level.

"Spain represents a strategically important market for ZRG and a natural extension of our growth across Europe. The country sits at the intersection of European and Latin American business, creating unique opportunities for organizations navigating growth, transformation, and leadership succession." — Larry Hartmann, CEO of ZRG Partners.

The Latin American corridor Hartmann describes suits a firm that has already made acquisitions in Chile. ZRG also expects to expand the Madrid office to cover sectors beyond the financial services base that Herrero's team brings with it.

The consequence lands on the incumbents. Spencer Stuart, Russell Reynolds Associates and DHR all run permanent offices in Spain, and on a board or C-suite mandate they now face a senior local team whose platform is built to shorten search timelines and pressure their fees.

For Spanish and international companies hiring senior leaders in Spain, the practical change is one more retained-search option on the shortlist, from a firm that sells speed backed by data and by relationships built over two decades in Spanish finance.

The transaction amount has not been disclosed, and ZRG has named no further targets or markets. The size of the bet on Spain and the shape of the wider Southern European push therefore remain unknown, and the next European deal will show whether Madrid becomes the Iberian hub the firm describes.