Duff & Phelps acquires disputes consultancy Blackrock Expert Services
Duff & Phelps, a New York-based financial consultancy, has acquired Blackrock Expert Services Group, a London-based consulting firm specializing in disputes and expert advisory for the construction industry.
Founded in 2009, Blackrock Expert Services Group (BESG) provides expert witness, dispute resolution, investigation, and electronic discovery services to a range of industries globally. The firm has particular expertise providing delay and quantum services to construction sector clients.
The company has more than 200 construction, technology, accounting, and financial services professionals across offices in London and Preston, UK, as well as Paris, Dubai, and Singapore.
Duff & Phelps’ acquisition of BESG will bolster its disputes offering globally, as well as that of risk management subsidiary Kroll. The BESG team will join Duff & Phelps’ disputes consulting practice – bringing the practice’s global headcount to nearly 300 professionals.
“Duff & Phelps is the ideal strategic partner to help us realize our global growth plans as we look to build out our services and geographic reach,” said Giles Derry, CEO of Blackrock Expert Services Group. “We see many areas of opportunity for collaboration, leveraging Kroll’s cyber risk, investigations and compliance expertise, and Duff & Phelps’ M&A, debt advisory and valuation services, to bring new capabilities to our clients.”
Derry will join the leadership team of the disputes practice, while BESG founder David Barry will become a senior advisor, focusing on strategic and geographic expansion of the business.
“Blackrock Expert Services Group’s market leading complex expert advisory services are highly complementary to Duff & Phelps’ existing services, and their construction dispute and advisory capabilities allow us to bolster our offering to our clients around the world,” said Jacob Silverman, president of Duff & Phelps. “I’m looking forward to working with Giles and everyone at Blackrock Expert Services Group to grow our collective business.”
Duff & Phelps providers services in valuation, corporate finance, disputes and investigations, cybersecurity, claims administration, and regulatory compliance. Together with subsidiaries Kroll (risk management) and Prime Clerk (claims administration), the firm has nearly 4,000 professionals in 25 countries.
The consulting firm earlier this year added seventeen managing directors to its US operations.
Duff & Phelps also this week announced that Jacob Silverman will become the firm's new CEO on January 1, 2021, succeeding Noah Gottdiener, who has been Duff & Phelps’ chief executive officer since 2004. Silverman has been a partner at the firm since 2004, helping to building it from 100 employees to nearly 4,000.
