Lobbying giants weighed deal for Mandelson’s Global Counsel
Two of London’s top advisory firms considered buying Global Counsel out of administration after the lobbying shop founded by Peter Mandelson collapsed amid revelations over its ties with Jeffrey Epstein. FGS Global and Flint Global were among several major consultancies presented with an offer to acquire Mandelson’s failed boutique by administrators, two people familiar with [...]
Two prominent London advisory firms, FGS Global and Flint Global, were approached by administrators of Global Counsel, a lobbying firm founded by Peter Mandelson, concerning a potential acquisition of the firm. The offer included staff and some client contracts, as administrators at Interpath received multiple expressions of interest regarding the company's client book and intellectual property rights. However, Interpath executives stated that no viable transaction had been found thus far.
Global Counsel's collapse came to light after revelations surfaced that Jeffrey Epstein had significantly influenced the agency's operations, even after his conviction for sex trafficking. This scandal led to a mass exodus of clients, with major firms like Standard Life, Bank of America, and Tesco severing ties with the company. Founded in 2010, Global Counsel faced a significant loss of fees following the scandal.
Despite the firm's failure, FGS Global and Flint Global decided to acquire a portion of Global Counsel's staff and clients instead of pursuing a formal deal. FGS Global, a KKR-owned company, has since taken on several of the firm's ex-senior partners, including Rebecca Park, who became the new chief executive. The majority of emails connecting Global Counsel to Epstein involved conversations between the financier and Mandelson, who has since been arrested on charges of misconduct in public office.
However, Wegg-Prosser, Global Counsel's former CEO, has denied any formal ties with Epstein or knowledge of Mandelson's relationship with him.
PR firm Sodali, owned by KKR, has also been involved in the aftermath of Global Counsel's collapse. Former Labour spin doctor Ben Wegg-Prosser has been hired as an external adviser by the firm, assisting with a strategic review of the PR and public affairs landscape. Sodali has since announced a corporate reorganization resulting in redundancies, though a spokesperson denied any connection between the two events. FGS Global, Interpath, and Flint Global declined to comment on the matter.
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