Advisory firm Teneo has secured new investment from top Liechtensteiner buyout firm LGT Capital Partners, valuing it at $2.3bn (£1.73bn).
This deal indicates that the challenges facing the world's largest holding companies and consultancies are not impacting more specialist or diversified firms, as reported by .
Backed by Liechtenstein's Royal family, LGT Capital Partners manages over $100bn in assets. The amount invested in Teneo by the private equity manager is undisclosed, but the valuation represents a significant increase in the New York-based firm's acquisition-driven valuation.
As recently as 2019, the consultancy, which offers services ranging from traditional management consultancy to restructuring, public relations and lobbying, was valued at just $750m. At that time, dealmaking giant CVC Capital Partners purchased a majority stake in the firm from a combination of its management and London boutique buyout shop BC Partners.
However, Teneo has more than doubled its revenue since the deal, largely due to a series of acquisitions that have expanded the firm's overall footprint and increased headcount in certain offices. Its most notable achievements since the CVC investment include major deals to acquire the restructuring arms of PwC in Australia and Deloitte in the º£½ÇÊÓƵ.
It also strengthened its financial communications division in London when it acquired PR firm Tulchan for £70m in 2023.
Co-founder and Chief Executive, Paul Keary, has ambitious plans to double the turnover once more in the near future. The group, boasting over 40 offices globally, hints at further acquisitions as it vies for dominance in an increasingly competitive sector.
Rapid growth has been mirrored by Brunswick Group, FTI Consulting and KKR-backed FGS Global in the public relations arena, while Alix Partners and Flint Global have emerged as significant rivals to Teneo's consultancy division.
This swift expansion demonstrates that the slowdown experienced by some of the world's largest corporate advisories, such as McKinsey and WPP, hasn't affected the industry's newer entrants.
In the advertising and communications sector, both London-listed WPP and its American counterpart Omnicom have struggled to halt a prolonged revenue decline triggered by financial turbulence across the global economy in 2022.
Global management consultants like McKinsey and the so-called Big Four have also grappled with a similar slowdown, leading to several rounds of redundancies and a deceleration in recruitment.
Neither Teneo nor LGT Capital Partners were available for comment.
