Ducker Holdings, a global market research, consulting and mergers and acquisitions advisory firm based in suburban Detroit, has merged with Boston consulting firm Carlisle & Co.

The merger was announced last week.

The new company, called Ducker Carlisle, joins “two sister companies separated at birth,” said Ducker Managing Principal Chris Fisher. Carlisle will make up the new company’s consulting arm while Ducker’s insight and research will compose the advisory arm.

“We’re both very similar in terms of our intelligence insights and adviser- and consulting-type businesses to transportation industries,” Fisher said. “Ducker has been around for 61 years, has gone through global growth and was looking for additional partners to expand its service competencies.”

Carlisle is a strategy consulting firm with expertise in aftersales, supply chain, industry benchmarking and pricing solutions for motor vehicle and industrial markets.

Fisher said discussions about a merger began last year, and both parties realized the “great synergies” possible. Fisher said bringing the two companies together was “a very easy fit.”

“Carlisle is just best in class on aftersales, a lot of transportation-related consulting and with all their programs,” Fisher said. “Ducker is very strong on both M&A research and planning with organizations. Together, we create this fantastic continuum from data to research to analytics to consulting to strategy to M&A. It’s just like, wow, we fill each other’s gaps and complement one another very well.”

Paul Gurizzian, who was CEO of Carlisle and will now be president of North America operations at Ducker Carlisle, agreed the two companies fit well together.

“Ducker is really strong on the supplier side, the Tier 1s. Carlisle’s really strong on the OEM side,” Gurizzian said. “You look at the Venn diagram, there’s some overlap but not a lot. This is why I’m so intrigued by this merger.”

Some of Carlisle’s research, such as its well-known parts and technician benchmarking studies, will continue to carry the Carlisle & Co. name, Gurizzian said.

The merger, he said, will expand the reach of Carlisle, which was mostly a North American company.

“Ducker has offices in Berlin, Paris, London, India and Shanghai,” Gurizzian said. “This really allows us to now take better care of our clients on a global basis. And Ducker brings 100 additional consultants, so we have a lot more smart people with a lot more expertise.

“This is a real win for our clients.”