Berkeley Scott Group provided two of the industry's main talking points of the past fortnight.

It finally reached agreement on the terms of a cash offer for Quantica. The terms of the deal value the professional services recruiter at approximately £28.3m — whether that's a good price, only time will tell.

Berkeley Scott chief executive, John Rose, told Recruiter the group is looking to grow its offering by acquiring strong brands, with specialised businesses of a good scale, which have high-calibre people on board. Quantica fit like a glove, he said.

An excited Rose said that Berkeley Scott will be looking to build and grow the Quantica business and make it more profitable. He added that Berkeley Scott will be looking at other possible targets — but the timing will be key.

Which is why it was a little surprising that a few days before the Quanica deal was finalised, the second talking point came about. Berkeley Scott hit the headlines for reportedly making a bid for financial recruiter Robert Walters. The concept of the reverse takeover for the financial recruiter, which reported a turnover of £274.5m and pre-tax profit of £19.9m for the year ended December 2006, is not as far-fetched as it seems.

Industry insiders believe Robert Walters is in need of an injection of new management, and chairman Robert Walters has been selling his stock, which may signal he is thinking about making an exit. However, Walters is now a minority shareholder, therefore the decision does not lie with him alone. And analysts believe the takeover is unlikely, as Berkeley Scott found it difficult to raise the funds for the Quantica deal, despite doing the rounds at the financial institutions.

The audacious plan may also stumble over the companies' cultural fit. Robert Walters works on profit/share arrangement, while Berkeley Scott rewards its consultants with a commission structure, a situation lacking the ideal synchronicity for a match made in heaven.

Berkeley Scott looks to have a mountain to climb to complete the deal, but with backing from experienced joint-chairmen John Bowmer and Tony Reeves, no surprises can be ruled out.