Kroll Inc. - History

History

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 June 1993, A.I.G. "became one of the largest investors in Kroll, after it retained a minority interest in the firm."

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 February 2001, Kroll expanded its working relationship with A.I.G., offering through their Private Client group personal security services to high net worth individuals and their families. "Under its working arrangement with AIG, Kroll is called in to supervise crisis management when an incident occurs. In its expanded role the company will now provide those services to private individual holders of AIG policies, providing global protection, for which there is an ever increasing need."

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. Over the next few years, Kroll began selling off subsidiaries in order to focus on its core business lines.

In June 2008, Jules Kroll left Kroll, Inc. He tried to buy Kroll Inc. back from MMC. When that bid failed, he launched in 2010 Kroll Bond Ratings and K2 Global Consulting with his son Jeremy.

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.