Six Sigma International Corrects and Replaces Previous Merger Announcement
15 July 1998
Six Sigma International Corrects and Replaces Previous Merger Announcement
Six Sigma International and Marshall-Qualtec Complete MergerSCOTTSDALE, Ariz.--July 8, 1998--Six Sigma International and Marshall-Qualtec Inc., two of the leading corporate training and implementation firms focused on business processes, have merged to form Six Sigma Qualtec.
Six Sigma International is the largest performance improvement firm known for its statistically driven implementation processes for increasing profitability and revenues by eliminating process defects. Pioneered at Motorola, the Six Sigma philosophy has been reported to be a bedrock of the strategic initiatives of leading companies such as General Electric and AlliedSignal.
Marshall-Qualtec was formed in 1995 with the merger of the Marshall Group and Qualtec Quality Services, a division of Florida Power & Light (FPL). Qualtec is known for its performance improvement approach based on business processes developed at Florida Power & Light, when FPL was the first American and non-Japanese winner of the Deming Prize. Marshall Group Inc. was founded in 1989 and specialized in human resource systems. Additional Marshall-Qualtec clients include BMW, Mercedes-Benz and the United States Postal Service.
Management believes the combined company will be the largest and one of the most innovative independent providers of its services to the corporate market. "Our mission is to be the leading provider of performance based curriculum training and integrated management system applications that drive financially measurable results for our clients. Specifically, in the areas of business processes, our curriculum includes Six Sigma, TQM, ISO 9000, QS 9000, Baldrige assessments and Lean Manufacturing. Further, through the Marshall Group's curriculum, we have one of the leading human resource reorganization and competency offerings in the industry. We will accomplish our goal by attracting the best talent with equity participation and expanding our capabilities beyond both existing companies' current offerings through internal product development, joint ventures and acquisitions," said company President Bruce J. Hayes.
Management and Shareholders
The management team will be led by Mr. Hayes, formerly Director of Quality Education and Consulting at Motorola University, where he provided services similar to the company's to Motorola's strategic partners. Mr. Hayes also served on Motorola's Corporate Quality Council and has been an Executive-on-Loan to major Motorola partners such as Citicorp. Motorola was the first winner of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1987.
Focusing on business development will be Gregory Brue, co-founder of Six Sigma International and formerly of Compaq and Dell, and Frank Vari, a senior Marshall-Qualtec executive who formerly worked at FPL and U S WEST.
Responsible for client delivery will be Michael Carnell, co-founder of Six Sigma International and also formerly of Motorola, and James Braddock, who was a senior executive at Marshall-Qualtec and formerly worked at FPL.
Marshall-Qualtec founder and former President Robert Marshall is maintaining an active role with the new company as Vice Chairman of the Board. Messrs. Brue and Carnell will also serve as Vice Chairmen of the Board. Messrs. Marshall, Brue and Carnell will all remain as significant shareholders.
Along with the merger, the combined company received a significant investment from an investor group led by Anvil Capital. This is Anvil's third transaction in the corporate training industry. The investor group included Wachovia Capital Partners, ING Barings and Indosuez Capital. John Lopez-Ona, Anvil's Managing Partner, will serve as Chairman of the new company. Mr. Lopez-Ona has extensive acquisition and financing experience and serves as Director of Omega Performance, a leading provider of sales training to the banking industry.
Six Sigma Qualtec will be headquartered at 8757 E. Via de Commercio, Scottsdale, AZ 85258; phone 602-991-6103; fax 602-948-7299.