How PartnerOne accelerated 6 global M&As with Deel

PartnerOne is a technology group that specializes in acquiring, stabilizing, and growing distressed, mismanaged, or bankrupt software companies. In the last year alone, the company's headcount tripled after acquiring six different businesses with employees spread across nine countries.

This rapid growth placed enormous pressure on their lean HR team, led by Global Head of HR Diane Pezzuto. "We're a lean team doing 360º HR," said Diane. "That includes onboarding, contracts, payroll, offboarding, benefits, equipment, you name it."

PartnerOne initially used another EOR provider but ran into significant issues, struggling with visibility, delays, and a lack of autonomy. According to Diane, everything had to go through someone. There were no self-serve options, no clear data, and inconsistent support.

PartnerOne switched to Deel after testing it with a few EOR employees and seeing immediate improvements. The transition brought efficiency and structure to their numerous mergers and acquisitions.

“Whether it’s one hire or a whole team through M&A, Deel gives us the speed and compliance we need to onboard talent anywhere in the world, without the heavy lifting. I don’t waste time on benefits or compliance research anymore.”—Diane Pezzuto, Global Head of HR, PartnerOne

Instead of scrambling post-close, PartnerOne now loops Deel into acquisitions early. Once HR documents are gathered, Diane and the team share employee info with Deel in advance. Contract redlining, benefits mapping, and local compliance checks happen before the deal closes, making go-live seamless.

“During acquisitions, onboarding used to be pure panic. Now we just preload the data, and Deel handles the rest; it’s a huge relief.”—Diane Pezzuto, Global Head of HR, PartnerOne

Deel's flexibility, autonomy, and people stood out. "The Deel team feels like an extension of our team," Diane said. "That partnership matters just as much as the platform."

Beyond Deel EOR for M&A support, PartnerOne leverages Deel's integrated platform to manage its distributed workforce with greater confidence and autonomy.

• Deel IT: For countries where their internal team has less reach, PartnerOne uses Deel IT to procure and manage equipment. "We use Deel to send high-spec devices to tech roles in Colombia, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, and more. The hardware catalog is intuitive, and we love that we don’t have to manage it ourselves." — Diane Pezzuto, Global Head of HR, PartnerOne
• Salary Insights: "The insights for salaries are extremely valuable. Being able to put in a job title and country and see if our offer fits the median gives us confidence that we're on the right track before we proceed." — Diane Pezzuto, Global Head of HR, PartnerOne
• Knowledge Hub & Self-Serve Payroll: "The Knowledge Hub is really helpful for preparing for an acquisition. I can see mandatory allowances and what benefits look like." — Alexandra Cappabianca, Global Human Resources Associate, Partner One

Faster onboarding, stronger partnership

Compared to their legacy provider, PartnerOne now onboards employees twice as fast with Deel. The biggest time savings come from better planning and fewer manual tasks.

"It’s hard to quantify perfectly because the scope varies. But onboarding with Deel is at least 2x faster—sometimes more." — Diane Pezzuto, Global Head of HR, PartnerOne