Kronos, Ultimate Software rebrand as 'UKG'

Dive Brief:

Following the February announcement of the merger between Kronos and Ultimate Software, the joint company has announced a new, unified branding as "UKG" or Ultimate Kronos Group, set to take effect Oct. 1.
The all-stock merger combined two of the largest companies in the human capital management (HCM) space, and two very large organizations with overlapping product and service offerings. UKG said it will "continue to bring together the best of each company's award-winning solutions — including Workforce Dimensions, Workforce Ready, and UltiPro HCM and HR service delivery solutions."
"Our new brand is rooted in our combined passion and history of focusing on people at work," UKG CEO Aron Ain said in the company statement. "Separately, Ultimate and Kronos have proven that remarkable cultures led by inspired people drive success, and now we are together as UKG, one company with people at our core."

Dive Insight:

This merger not only brings together two giants in HCM, it is also combining two companies that have been recognized separately by Glassdoor and Fortune for having strong workplace cultures. Both were owned by the same private equity firm, which bought Kronos in 2007 and Ultimate Software in 2019.

UKG CEO Aron Ain was previously CEO of Kronos, where he had been in that role since 2005 and with the company for 40 years. The joint company now has 12,000 employees globally and around $3 billion in annual revenue, with a total valuation of $22 billion, according to the initial merger announcement, which also said the new company plans to hire 3,000 new employees during the next three years.

While ADP, SAP and Oracle are among the leaders in this space, Workday and consumer technology giants like Facebook, Google and Microsoft have entered this sector as well. That these major technology players would get involved demonstrates the significance of expected growth potential for this sector.

While the pandemic has sped up adoption of workplace technology, increased respect for HR and advancement in available solutions have had researchers and industry professionals expecting tech to re-shape the function even before the COVID-19 outbreak. A recent estimate by an industry research firm predicted the HCM market to reach $18 billion by 2025.