SWEDEN - Hewitt Associates says it is merging with Swedish compensation consultancy Löneanalyser. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The new company will be called Hewitt Löneanalyser AB and offer Nordic region clients "improved access to HR consulting and outsourcing services, as well as the most up-to-date compensation survey and analysis capabilities".

Hewitt has had a join venture with Löneanalyser for seven years in the pensions and human resources consulting fields. Löneanalyser was founded in 1987 and has 45 employees.

"I am delighted that we are creating Hewitt Löneanalyser," said Hewitt's European head of consulting Roger Parkin. "We have enjoyed a fruitful joint venture relationship in Sweden with Löneanalyser and we now have the opportunity to combine our operations more completely and become the best provider of HR solutions for the Nordic countries.

"Hewitt's worldwide presence means that an increasing amount of our work comes from global clients.  This merger ensures that we will have a highly effective hub in the Nordic region to serve clients that operate in Sweden as well as Denmark, Finland and Norway."

"This merger is the ideal solution for Löneanalyser," added Löneanalyser managing director Joakim Lundberg.

"We have operated with great success for almost 20 years but combining with Hewitt's global capabilities will enable us to expand the range of our work faster and more efficiently.

"The Nordic region has enjoyed considerable business growth in recent years and now issues such as the new pension legislation being introduced in Sweden are providing increased consulting opportunities - many within major global organisations.  Merging with Hewitt will provide the extra capability to make the most of these opportunities and open doors to many others."

Earlier this month Hewitt Associates reported a third-quarter loss of $202.2m - due mostly to a $249m charge relating to problems at its human resources business process outsourcing operations. Russ Fradin is to take over from Dale Gifford as chief executive.

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