Mercer India, the Indian arm of learning solutions provider Mercer, has acquired HR consultancy firm Cerebrus Consultants as of April 28, 2025.
Part of Marsh McLennan companies, Mercer aims to capitalise on the impressive talent and market reach of Cerebrus. The acquisition has allowed Mercer to strengthen its talent and rewards sector. Cerebrus has clients across India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, a feat that can be attributed to the company’s founder, Anita Ramachandran. Following the recent acquisition, Ramachandran will remain with Mercer in an advisory capacity.
“We are pleased to announce that, as of April 28, 2025, the Cerebrus team, including Founder Anita Ramachandran, has joined Mercer,” Mercer India shared on LinkedIn. “These exciting additions further enhance our current capabilities in talent development, rewards, and workforce transformation, and expand our reach among Indian-headquartered companies and in adjacent markets like Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We look forward to this new chapter and the opportunities it will bring, as the demand for these services continues to grow in these dynamic markets.”
With 45 years of experience, Ramachandran is an expert in business strategy, organisational design, compensation and benefits, performance management, and strategic HR transformation. The acquisition of Cerebrus by Mercer is something that she is quite excited about. Given her passion and hard work behind Cerebrus, the founder has been open about what the company and the acquisition mean to her.
“Cerebrus was a dream for me. I set it up in 1995 to make a difference to the HR space, especially Rewards, at a time when HR was still thought of as a P & A function, and HR as we know it today was still being conceived,” Ramachandran explained on LinkedIn. “Cerebrus has had a unique opportunity to contribute and help shape many leading practices in HR over the years. I am grateful to the large number of clients and the HR community for supporting us through our journey – we would not have achieved what we did without the deep engagement and encouragement of so many promoters, leaders and CHROs. “