Finance

Engagement
An activist investor with a minority stake in a US technology company asked Gryphon to investigate the chairman of the board, who the client felt was not fit to lead the company.  Our client commissioned us to find evidence and commentary to show that the chairman had similar leadership issues at previous companies.

Investigation
A deep dive of the public record revealed that the chairman had been discharged or forced out of a number of companies he led before. Further investigation revealed that the subject had engaged in questionable business practices, such as overstating revenues, which led to a steep decline in the stock price of another company he ran and led to a number of civil litigation cases. During the investigation, we spoke to sources who corroborated adverse information identified in the public record. The sources offered further evidence of the chairman’s questionable management practices, including retaliation.

Result
Armed with this intelligence, our client led a successful proxy fight, which ended with the client pushing the chairman out and installing an ally to lead the company.

Engagement
An investment manager was considering a partnership with a newly formed private equity firm and commissioned Gryphon to conduct a comprehensive background investigation on the PE firm’s principals.

Investigation
Human intelligence gathered from interviews with former colleagues of the principals revealed that despite being well connected in the industry, the subjects were not highly regarded among their peers and lacked requisite successful deal experience. In addition, one source close to the subjects described their new firm as the “land of misfit toys,” and several sources advised our client against engaging in any business relationship with the firm.

Result
Our investigation afforded our client with a unique insight into the character and professional footprints of the subjects. Armed with this intelligence, our client was able to avoid any potential business and reputational risks associated with a potential investment.