CHICAGO – 20/20 Foresight, a leader in retained executive search services for the real estate and financial services industries, has acquired Saenger Associates, a prominent Valencia, California-based retained executive search firm.

Saenger Associates, founded by Gary Saenger in 1999, is focused on serving its clients in the manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain of the industrial products, aerospace and defense, and consumer products industries.

The acquisition is a significant moment for 20/20 Foresight as it embarks on an aggressive growth phase by expanding its platform into new industries and practice areas.

Saenger Associates will operate under its new name, Saenger Associates, a 20/20 Foresight Company, and will continue serving its long-standing client relationships, now with the addition of 20/20’s powerful back-office database of more than 2 million contacts, research expertise and expanded search delivery efficiencies.

Gary L. Saenger, head of Saenger Associates, a 20/20 Foresight Company.

20/20 Foresight and Saenger Associates have previously served as industry colleagues, collaborating on successful searches conducted through IRC Global Executive Search Partners, the world’s largest executive search alliance.

“The acquisition of Saenger Associates represents exactly what 20/20 has been doing for years: leveraging our investments in technology, marketing and process by combining them with accomplished search consultants,” said Rob Peck, Managing Principal of 20/20 Foresight. “The deal enables 20/20 to make a foray into the manufacturing, distribution and supply chain areas of industrial and consumer products. This will be an immediate boost as it relates to our expansion into these key industries.”

“Working with Gary showed us how our teams could create unlimited opportunities for each other,” said Bob Cavoto, Managing Principal and Founder of 20/20 Foresight. “By combining our powerful internal infrastructure, including proprietary technology, the industry’s deepest database and extensive marketing resources, with Saenger Associates’ recruitment leadership in the manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain areas, the benefits for both companies are immeasurable as are the benefits for our clients and candidates.”

“We are merging now with 20/20 Foresight and eventually being acquired by them,” Saenger said. “They have severe horsepower when it comes to marketing and contacts and databases. They also have the wallet to want to grow this particular business in my vertical, which is manufacturing, industrial and aerospace, anything to do with manufacturing.”

Under the terms of the merger-acquisition, Saenger has been given a five-year contract to see this new development through to continued growth and success.

“We are immediately expanding our practice by recruiting and hiring several new experienced search consultants who can attract and deliver top-quality retained searches,” Saenger said.

“I founded [Saenger Associates] more than two decades ago on the principles of personalized attention and a commitment to meaningful, long-lasting results,” he said. “I insisted that each and every search we performed has two winners — the corporate client and the executive candidate. We treat both with equal professional respect. By partnering with a well-respected firm such as 20/20 Foresight, I now have the technological and marketing horsepower to catapult our initiatives to the next level.”

Saenger said he wanted to keep the highly successful Saenger Associates’ team together for the long term. “By merging with 20/20, I am able to continue to lead our Saenger team of top-level performers going forward. I am also able to lead the charge of growing this vertical by several-fold while increasing our delivery efficiencies through the support of 20/20’s technology.”

Saenger sees the 20/20 Foresight executive leadership team of Mitch Ornstein, Rob Peck, and Bob Cavoto as a great cultural fit. “They avoid politics, red tape, and bureaucracy and love getting the job done above and beyond customer expectations, and that sums up my feelings, as well,” Saenger said.

“The genesis of our relationship stems from our co-operation and membership within IRC Global Executive Search Partners, where Saenger Associates has been a member for 10 years and 20/20 the past three years,” Cavoto said. “This is where Gary Saenger and Robert Peck have had the pleasure of knowing each other and working together, which is the foundation of the 20/20 and Saenger acquisition.”

This strategic acquisition will allow the two companies, which have both been named to the prestigious Forbes list of “America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms,” to further cement their standing in the recruitment industry and their potential to make impactful placements in more industries.

20/20 Foresight Managing Director Mitch Ornstein has been hand-selected to serve as the liaison between the two merging companies. Ornstein joined 20/20 Foresight earlier this year, deepening 20/20 Foresight’s functional expertise in finance and delivering specialization in the manufacturing (with a CPG focus), healthcare, private equity and financial services industries. This versatility will help guide the Saenger Associates transition.

Ornstein has more than 15 years of experience as an executive in the search industry, which includes launching a new market for a leading regional firm and growing that to more than 50 employees in five years. Ornstein’s track record of growing teams and successfully leading integrations of various merger/acquisitions will enable a smooth integration of Saenger into the 20/20 Foresight platform.

“The merger of 20/20 Foresight Executive Search and Saenger Associates capitalizes on the strengths of both companies, including dynamic plans for growth and deeply dedicated teams,” said Ornstein. “The future of executive search lies in this type of exceedingly specialized approach and highly personalized attention to meeting our clients’ hiring needs.”

“We have been leaders in real estate and financial services recruitment for almost three decades,” added Peck. “Investing in companies that complement our efforts and multiply our opportunities is integral to our companies’ future expansion.”

About 20/20 Foresight Executive Search

20/20 Foresight Executive Search was founded in 1994 to provide an unparalleled recruitment experience. The company’s team features career consultants who are experts in a range of industries, providing an inherent understanding of their clients’ hiring needs and company goals. 20/20 Foresight leverages a proven recruitment process, proprietary tools and techniques, and the industry’s best database, resulting in a 95 percent success rate in placements. 20/20 Foresight Executive Search was ranked #15 by Forbes on its list of “America’s Best Executive Recruiting Firms 2020.”

About Saenger Associates

Saenger Associates, a 20/20 Foresight Company, was founded in 1999 as a premier Retained Executive Search firm based in the Los Angeles area and enjoys strategic partnerships across multiple industries. The company’s major practice areas are Industrial Products, Aerospace & Defense and Consumer Products. Corporate clients include private, public, Fortune 500s and nonprofit companies that are both established and emerging.