CIL Strategy Consultants acquires Pearson Ham and rebrands its Pricing & Commercial Excellence team as CIL Pearson Ham

Pearson Ham has built a strong reputation, advising clients across sectors including retail, consumer goods, B2B services and subscription-based businesses. Its team helps organisations improve pricing strategy, delivery and governance, supported by proprietary tools, experienced consultants and long-standing client relationships. The acquisition adds around 30 people to CIL’s Pricing & Commercial Excellence team.

While CIL Strategy Consultants remains the main firm-wide brand, the Pricing & Commercial Excellence team will now go to market as CIL Pearson Ham. This gives the pricing practice a clear market-facing identity that brings together the strength of both brands.

This follows a successful year for CIL, in which the Pricing practice has continued to build momentum since Patric Kircher joined as Global Head of Pricing in April 2025. The rebranded Pricing & Commercial Excellence team, CIL Pearson Ham, brings together CIL’s deep sector expertise and growth strategy capabilities with Pearson Ham’s specialist pricing knowledge to create one of the strongest pricing teams in the market. 

Jon Whiteman, Managing Partner at CIL Strategy Consultants, said: "This acquisition reflects the confidence we have in pricing as an important growth area for CIL. Clients are facing more pressure to improve commercial performance, and CIL Pearson Ham gives us a stronger platform to support them across strategy, value creation and pricing."

Patric Kircher, Global Head of Pricing at CIL Pearson Ham, said: "For the Pricing team, this is a real step forward. We are bringing together Pearson Ham's specialist expertise with CIL's existing practice, creating greater depth, broader capability and more opportunities for our people and clients."

Tim Ham, Senior Advisor at CIL Pearson Ham, said: "We’ve built a leading reputation in pricing through consistently high-quality work and a real dedication to achieving great outcomes for our clients. I’m very excited that the team is now part of CIL, as it gives us the opportunity to bring that expertise to a broader base of clients."

Jason Carley, Partner of CIL Pearson Ham, said:“CIL’s ambition, culture, and platform make it the ideal partner for Pearson Ham, our team and the businesses we serve. CIL Pearson Ham gives our clients access to end-to-end growth strategy expertise, deep sector knowledge, and global reach. I am excited about what we can achieve together and the opportunity to take both firms into their next phase of growth.”

Clients of both firms will be able to draw on a broader, connected offer, from market entry and growth strategy through to pricing design, implementation and value creation. With teams across Europe and the US, CIL Pearson Ham will help clients link strategy and pricing more closely, turning sharper insight into practical commercial action.

CIL was advised on the transaction by Wallace LLP (legal) and GHF Advisory (buy-side corporate finance).

About CIL Strategy Consultants

CIL is a global growth strategy consultancy that helps management teams, investors and businesses make informed commercial decisions. With offices across Europe and the US, CIL combines deep sector expertise with rigorous commercial insight to help clients identify opportunities and create value.

About CIL Pearson Ham

CIL Pearson Ham is the branded name for CIL's specialist pricing practice, combining Pearson Ham's market-leading pricing expertise with CIL's sector knowledge, investor experience and international reach.