Now that Manpower has announced its plans to acquire recruitment process outsourcing leader CRI, the company is revealing more tidbits about its decision to strengthen its presence in the rapidly growing RPO market.

According to Kirsten Corbell, RPO product manager at Manpower, CRI will operate under Manpower Business Solutions, a line of customized recruiting initiatives in over 20 countries worldwide.

She says CRI has experience delivering a “high-touch candidate experience” and branding their clients as employers of choice. CRI started in 1997 by Ladd and Julie Richland, and its client base now includes Fortune 1000 and emerging growth companies. It was recently named Top RPO firm for the third consecutive year by HRO Today magazine.

After an “extensive” review of RPO companies, Manpower recognized that CRI best understood end-to-end RPO.

“Once we learned more about what they offered, we knew they had the right people and the proper investment to be able to really deliver. Also, they had the whole vision, values, and culture piece. We share a philosophy for being a global leader in RPO, so it was a great fit. Really, that cinched the deal,” she says.

Corbell notes that CRI wasn’t necessarily looking for an acquisition, but they had been getting a lot more interest from clients on global programs.

“They realized there aren’t that many companies in the market who can do that without a partnership,” she says.

She says the core group of about 75 in the L.A. headquarters will stay in place.

“Everyone is moving over to Manpower. Their expertise and strength of service is what we acquired, so their people are staying. That’s what we’re excited about. They have both strong talent and recruiting expertise,” she says.

“Once we’ve gotten to know them even more, the strength of what they bring to the table will excite us even more,” she says.

She says Manpower is especially excited by CRI’s recruiter certification and hiring manager training offerings.