| Type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | corporate investigation risk consulting |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Founder(s) | Jules B. Kroll |
| Headquarters | New York City, USA |
| Key people | Phil Casey, President and CEO Donald Buzinkai, CFO Sabrina Perel, General Counsel, Bill Bratton, Chairman |
| Revenue | $1 billion (2007) |
| Employees | 2,800 |
| Parent | Altegrity, Inc. |
| Website | www.krollconsulting.com |
Kroll is a corporate investigations and risk consultancy firm based in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.[1] and established in 1972.
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Kroll was founded in 1972 by Jules B. Kroll as a consultant to corporate purchasing departments. The company focused on helping clients improve operations by uncovering kickbacks, fraud or other forms of corruption.
Kroll began its line of investigative work in the financial sector in the 1980s, when corporations in New York City approached Kroll to profile investors, suitors and takeover targets, with special attention to any perceived connections to disreputable organizations, suspicious business practices, personality and integrity issues, or any kind of corporate malfeasance.
In the 1990s, Kroll expanded into forensic accounting, background screening, drug testing, electronic data recovery and market intelligence.
In 1997, with annual revenues of approximately $60 million, Kroll merged with vehicle armoring company O’Gara-Hess & Eisenhard. The new entity, The Kroll-O'Gara Company, became a public company listed on NASDAQ as "KROG."
In December 1998, Kroll acquired Schiff & Associates, Inc., a small security engineering and consulting firm based in Bastrop, Texas just outside Austin. The name was changed to Kroll Schiff & Associates then Kroll Security Services Group and finally to Kroll Security Group.
In August 2001, the O’Gara vehicle armoring businesses were sold to Armor Holdings. The company name was changed to Kroll Inc. and its ticker symbol became "KROL." Kroll ended the year with more than $200 million in annual revenues.
In 2002, Kroll acquired Kelly McCann's firm Crucible. In September 2008, Crucible was acquired by its management and now operates privately.
In July 2004, Kroll was acquired by professional services firm Marsh & McLennan Companies in a $1.9 billion transaction.[2] Over the next few years, Kroll began selling off subsidiaries in order to focus on its core business lines.
In August 2010, Kroll was acquired by Altegrity, Inc. in an all-cash transaction valued at $1.13 billion. Altegrity's family of companies also includes USIS, HireRight and Explore. It is principally owned by Providence Equity Partners.[3]
Kroll has also come to the attention of the mainstream media in relation to various instances of alleged questionable investigative practices. For example, during an investigation into a corporate takeover target in Brazil, Kroll staff members were accused by the Brazilian authorities of undertaking illegal activities, including phone hacking. Also, on 13 July 2004 at Abbey National headquarters, Euston, London, a senior risk analyst Richard Chang who was working on the Basel 2 project, committed suicide shortly after a two and a half hour interview by Peter Pender-Cudlip and Howard Jones, Kroll staff, in relation to alleged whistle-blowing.
Kroll is headquartered in New York City, and important offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, Eden Prairie, Nashville, San Francisco, Dallas, Miami, and Washington DC. The Miami office serves as the headquarters for Kroll's operations in Latin America, where it also has offices in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Colombia.
The Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region is one of Kroll's regions. Kroll's EMEA headquarters are in London, and the company has a presence in Spain, with offices in Madrid and Barcelona. The EMEA region is supported by offices in Paris and Milan, while Kroll's office in Dubai provides risk consultancy services in the Gulf.
Kroll's Asian operations are carried out by offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Mumbai, Beijing, Singapore and Tokyo.
The following are core Kroll activities:
Kroll's Business Intelligence and Investigations unit (also known as BI&I) provides strategic insight into operational risk issues by combining investigative capabilities and primary source research with analytical skills to allow its clients to understand the risks and rewards of new opportunities.
Kroll’s Risk & Compliance Solutions are designed to serve the needs of the chief compliance officer and general counsel, with technology-enabled platforms that allow for comprehensive compliance program management. Kroll’s capabilities extend from designing policies and processes to executing on them. Kroll engages with clients such as investment banks and governments in addressing populations that require remediation and as a partner in their day-to-day processes, on a services basis and via outsourcing.
Kroll acquired a computer forensics, electronic discovery, and data recovery company named Ontrack, which has revolutionized Kroll's business operations. On Jan. 31, 2006 Kroll Ontrack Inc. announced that it has completed the acquisition of Ibas Holdings ASA, a leading Norwegian-based provider of data recovery, data erasure and computer forensics services. Ibas became a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroll Ontrack AS, a newly-formed Norwegian entity. Prior to its acquisition by Kroll Ontrack Inc., Ibas had expanded its own geographic reach and service offerings through its acquisition of Vogon International, a privately-held U.K. company specializing in computer forensics, electronic discovery, and data recovery. As a result of the Ibas Holdings acquisition, Kroll Ontrack has become a leading provider of legal technologies, with operations in North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific. Kroll Ontrack's technology is expanding in-house, amplifying Kroll's capacities in its other divisions. Kroll Ontrack has patented technologies and capabilities in recovering seemingly deleted files, including internet-based information cleared from the cache.
Kroll's Background Screening division provides screening services for areas such as employment, supplier selection, investment placement and institutional admissions. Kroll's Background Screening division also includes the Kroll Fraud Solutions unit, which specializes in identity theft protection and identity restoration services.
Kroll offers consulting services through Kroll Security Group, its Security Consulting and Security Engineering & Design division. These services include Threat Assessments, Vulnerability Assessments, Physical Security Surveys, Security Master Planning, Policy and Procedure Development, Staffing Studies, etc.
In 1987, in the prominent First Amendment case over The Heroin Trail stories in New York Newsday, attorney Floyd Abrams enlisted Kroll's help to find an eyewitness: "But was it conceivable that we could come up with an eyewitness who could be of help? I called Jules Kroll, the CEO of Kroll Associates, the nation's most acclaimed investigative firm, to ask him if he could inquire, through the extensive range of former law enforcement officials employed by him, whether Karaduman was known to be a drug trafficker in Istanbul."[4] Kroll came through: two weeks into the trial the firm produced Faraculah Arras, who was prepared to testify he was involved in one of Karaduman's drug deals. "I was stunned," recalled Abrams.
Abrams used Kroll again in 1998 to investigate claims by CNN's Newsstand documentary that sarin nerve gas had been used in Vietnam in 1970 as part of Operation Tailwind.[5]
Kroll assisted in the trial of Norwegian shipping tycoon, John Fredriksen, at the end of the 1980s.
Kroll were responsible for revamping security at the World Trade Center after the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.[6] They also took on responsibility for security at Chicago's Sears Tower following the September 11, 2001 attacks.[7] Just prior to the September 11 attacks, Kroll Inc. hired former FBI special investigator John P. O'Neill, specialized in the Al-Qaeda network held responsible for the 1993 bombing, to head the security at the WTC complex. O'Neill died in the attacks.
Kroll entered into a joint marketing agreement with legal service plan provider Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc. in 2003, to distribute an identity theft product to consumers, called the Identity Theft Shield, the first time Kroll offered a service to individuals.[8] As of June 30, 2006, Kroll had over 560,000 customers, according to Pre-Paid Legal's quarterly report.[9] In addition to the Pre-Paid Legal subscribers, Kroll's Identity Theft Shield serves about 500,000 other consumers.