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FTI Consulting Announces Further International Expansion
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Opens Forensic and Litigation Consulting Office in Mexico City
Baltimore, MD - September 25, 2007
FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN), the global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance their enterprise value, today announced that it has expanded its presence in the Asia-Pacific region through two acquisitions within its strategic communications segment and in Latin America with the opening of a Mexico City office, which will initially focus on business intelligence and investigations.
FTI's strategic communications arm, FD, a leading global business communications firm, has acquired Sydney-based Third Person Communications Pty Limited (Third Person), one of Australia's leading financial communications firms, and the business of Occasions Corporate and Financial Communications Ltd and Occasions Marketing Communications Ltd (Occasions), a specialist financial, corporate and marketing communications consultancy in Hong Kong and China. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
Third Person, founded in 2002 by Ross Thornton, Jim Kelly and Mark Gold, respected market leaders with over 50 years of collective experience, provides its clients with a broad array of corporate advisory and public affairs services, including investor relations, transaction communications, corporate repositioning, crisis communications and government and regulatory relations, among other services. With 15 employees, Third Person has worked on some of the largest M&A transactions in the region and has a blue chip retained client base of both Australian and International corporations.
Occasions, led by Wendy Yeung, one of the most respected and experienced advisors in the region, is a specialist financial, corporate and marketing communications team. Over her 17-year career in the communications industry, Ms. Yeung has advised on over 160 company listings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and built an excellent reputation for handling investor relations, corporate and marketing communications programs for companies across Greater China and South East Asia.
Ms. Yeung's firm will give FD its first presence in Shanghai and, when combined with FD's existing Hong Kong and Mainland China teams, will create one of the largest financial communications practices in the region with 25 professionals.
Jack Dunn, FTI's president and chief executive officer, commented, “Having a global advisory capability is a core strategic focus for us as we seek to serve our clients across a broader range of issues irrespective of where they carry out their business. Our acquisition of the Occasions communications business reflects the growing awareness among Chinese companies of the importance of communications and it greatly enhances our Asian platform by giving us critical mass in Shanghai and additional expertise in Hong Kong and Beijing to leverage our existing FD and International Risk businesses.”
Mr. Dunn continued, “Third Person gives us an initial stake in Australia, which is growing rapidly due to continued investment from China, India and Japan as well as robust internal development. We are entering this market with the leading financial communications firm that has advised on the largest transactions in the market and an immediate roster of the country's most prestigious corporations.”
FTI Consulting has further strengthened its presence in Latin America with the opening of the Company's Forensic and Litigation Consulting office in Mexico City. Led by business intelligence and regional expert Sandra Cuello, the Mexico City office provides investigative, business intelligence, forensic accounting and litigation support services to FTI Consulting clients within Mexico City and worldwide.
Ms. Cuello is a criminal attorney who has worked for the Justice Department in Argentina, was head of Business Intelligence and Investigations for Kroll in Argentina and Mexico, and founding partner of BCG Intelligence, a leading Mexico City business intelligence enterprise. Ms. Cuello has been joined by a seasoned team of consultants, including Gloria Lerin, formerly the practice head of Kroll's Financial Advisory Services Practice in Mexico, and Fernanda Garfias, the co-founder of BCG Intelligence.
Mr. Dunn concluded, “Our acquisitions this year of Holder International and Gravitas established us in Latin America, and we are building on that with the opening of our office in Mexico City, one of the largest and most dynamic markets in the region. Our Mexico City team's wealth of investigations and forensic accounting experience will leverage the capabilities of FTI's International Risk & Investigations practice in the region, and better enable us to service the natural business flow among Miami, Mexico and South America.”
About FD
One of the most highly regarded consultancies in the communications industry, FD employs more than 550 staff and advises more than 750 clients worldwide through its hub offices in London and New York, as well as its network of wholly-owned offices in Bahrain, Beijing, Bogota, Boston, Cape Town, Chicago, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Johannesburg Los Angeles, Manchester, Moscow, Panama City, Paris, San Francisco, Shanghai, Sydney and Washington, D.C. With a 20 year history of advising clients in both the private and public sectors, FD's services include financial public relations, investor relations, public affairs, crisis and issues management and corporate, business- to-business and business-to consumer communications. FD is also a market leader in M&A advisory work. FD is structured around specialist sector teams operating on an international basis, covering consumer industries, financial services, basic industries, business services, life sciences & healthcare, media, real estate, technology and telecommunications. FD is a division of FTI Consulting Inc. For more information, please visit www.fd.com.
About FTI Consulting
FTI Consulting, Inc. is a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations protect and enhance enterprise value in an increasingly complex legal, regulatory and economic environment. With more than 2,200 professionals located in most major business centers in the world, we work closely with clients every day to anticipate, illuminate, and overcome complex business challenges in areas such as investigations, litigation, mergers and acquisitions, regulatory issues, reputation management and restructuring. More information can be found at www.fticonsulting.com.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve uncertainties and risks including statements related our future financial results. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ from the company's expectations. The Company has experienced fluctuating revenues, operating income and cash flow in some prior periods and expects this will occur from time to time in the future. As a result of these possible fluctuations, the Company's actual results may differ from our projections. Further, preliminary results are subject to normal year-end adjustments. Other factors that could cause such differences include the pace and timing of the consummation and integration of past and future acquisitions, the company's ability to realize cost savings and efficiencies, competitive and general economic conditions, retention of staff and clients and other risks described under the heading “Item 1A. Risk Factors” in the Company's most recent Form 10-K and in the Company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform such statements to actual results or events and do not intend to do so.