Ankura acquires two business units from Navigant for $470 million
As global consulting firm Navigant seeks to realign itself to a more concentrated set of services, the firm has confirmed the proposed sale of two of its business units to rapidly growing Ankura Consulting. The deal sees Ankura boost its global headcount to over 1,400, with the acquisition of Navigant’s Disputes, Forensics and Legal Technology businesses as well as its Transaction Advisory Services practice.
Ankura Consulting was founded in 2014 by incumbent CEO Roger D. Carlile, and provides management consulting and expert services to businesses. The Washington D.C. headquartered firm’s offerings include bankruptcy and corporate restructuring, corporate investigation, dispute and litigation support, among other services. The company also provides this support to its clients from additional US offices in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Dallas, as well as San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in the past two years, the firm has worked to expand this presence further, having already grown annual revenues to $50 million by 2016.
In that same year, Ankura received a $100 million strategic growth commitment from Madison Dearborn Partners. The consultancy quickly put the funds to use, growing its headcount to around 150 employees with the acquisition of advisory firm ARPC. The integration of the two firms saw Ankura up-scale its Texan base, relocating its 90 Dallas-based employees to a new office in the city’s downtown district. In March 2018, Ankura spread its footprint further with the purchase of Nashville-based C3/Consulting, bringing another 120 staff to the company.
Further building on this progress, in June, Ankura has agreed a deal to acquire portions of Chicago-based Navigant Consulting, in a deal valued at $470 million. The purchase will see Navigant give up its Disputes, Forensics and Legal Technology businesses as well as its Transaction Advisory Services practice. The acquisition will help Ankura to build itself into what it terms as a “unique global business advisory firm”, with a global headcount in excess of 1,400 employees in 34 offices, and over $500 million in revenues, after the transaction itself concludes around the third quarter of 2018.
The arrangement will likely see Navigant realise $370 million in net cash proceeds, after the factoring in of taxes and transaction and separation-related costs, and will allow the firm to double down on its efforts in its remaining sectors. Navigant has spent recent months investing significant resources in an aggressive expansion policy of its own, purchasing life sciences firm Quorum in late 2017, before the firm launched two offices in Australia, an increasingly lucrative consulting market for renewable energy services in particular. Moving forward, the deal will make Navigant a “highly concentrated” firm with a focus on health care, energy and financial services.
Ankura CEO Roger Carlile commented, “Bringing Navigant’s global DFLT and TAS businesses to Ankura represents a milestone opportunity to establish a global footprint, enhance our client offerings, deepen our relationships with our clients, and provide new and exciting opportunities for our people.”
Julie M. Howard, Chairperson and CEO of Navigant, added, “By separating those businesses from Navigant’s management consulting and managed services businesses, we believe each organization will be advantageously positioned for growth and success in their respective markets.”
