Oakley Capital buys controlling stake in company intelligence agency G3 | USAEMALL.com

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

European buyout group Oakley Capital has acquired a majority stake in strategic advisory firm G3 in a sign of continued investor interest in London’s thriving corporate intelligence industry.

Founded in 2004, G3 is one of a clutch of firms in the UK capital that relies on networks of global sources to provide intelligence on political and business issues to corporate clients around the world.

The deal values the company at more than £250mn, based on a “high teens” multiple of forecast future pre-tax earnings of £17mn, according to people familiar with the matter. Oakley declined to comment.

G3 has grown rapidly in recent years, buoyed by global instability and surging demand for its discreet services, particularly from private equity firms seeking pre-deal due diligence.

“Geopolitical volatility, regulatory changes, supply chain ruptures are all driving demand,” executive chair Michael Bevan told the Financial Times.

Private equity investment committees no longer rely on “basic red flag reports to de-risk deals”, he added. “They are demanding a far deeper due diligence product, leveraging insight from global networks, to enable them to make risk decisions.”

Bevan, a former managing director at HSBC, acquired the company in 2018, alongside fellow executive chair Nick Alcock. Both Bevan and Alcock, a former UK diplomat in the Middle East, will remain invested in the company and continue to manage the business.

The privately held group made pre-tax earnings of £8.9mn in 2023 on revenues of £21.1mn, up from profits of £6.8mn in 2022, according to its accounts.

Smaller corporate intelligence firms in London have also attracted international buyers in recent years. US-based consulting firm JS Held bought London’s GPW Group in 2022 and Africa specialists Africa Matters Ltd the following year.

Hakluyt, G3’s highest-profile rival, told the FT this year that it would remain independent. Founded by former MI6 officers, it made pre-tax profits of £28mn in the year to June 2024 on revenues of £131mn, its most recent accounts show.

G3 also has links to the intelligence services. The former head of MI6, John Sawers, sits on its advisory board alongside David Cohen, a former deputy director of the CIA.

However, like others in the sector, the company has in recent years developed its business beyond corporate intelligence-gathering and sought to become a trusted adviser on a range of geopolitical, business and cyber security issues.

It has about 100 staff across offices in London, Singapore, New York and Japan, and last year executed more than 1,000 projects in 65 countries, according to its website.