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 the matter said, in a deal that could have allowed them to inherit Global Counsel staff and some of its remaining client contracts.
In a report filed with Companies House, administrators at Interpath said they had received “several inbound expressions of interest relating to the company’s client book… and intellectual property rights”. Enquiries also related to the bankrupt firm’s offices in Brussels, Washington and Doha, though the report did not mention interested parties by name.
“Following engagement with interested parties, to date no viable transaction has proved possible,” Interpath executives said.
Earlier this year, Global Counsel collapsed dramatically into receivership after it emerged that Jeffrey Epstein played a significant role helping shape the agency even after the New York financier’s first conviction.
The revelations – first reported by City AM – plunged the group into crisis, triggering a mass exodus of clients. Standard Life, Bank of America and Tesco all severed ties leaving the agency, founded in the wake of Labour’s 2010 election loss, facing a alarming loss of fees.
According to people close to the discussions, FGS Global and Flint were approached by Interpath advisers. The proposal included “people and clients as a standalone deal for a bit of the business”, one of them said.
Global Counsel boss advising PR firm six months after resignation
The two political consultancies ultimately chose to snap up a coterie of Global Counsel staff and clients rather than progressing with a formal deal. KKR-owned FGS have taken on several of the group’s ex-senior partners, including Rebecca Park, who took the reins as chief executive after her predecessor – co-founder Benjamin Wegg-Prosser – resigned as boss after being swept up in the saga.
The vast majority of emails connecting Global Counsel to Epstein were conversations between the convicted paedophile and Mandelson, who has since been arrested on charges of misconduct in public office. But Wegg-Prosser, the firm’s chief executive for more than 15 year before resigning in an attempt to stave off its collapse, was also swept up in the revelations.
Emails released by the US’s Department of Justice showed Wegg-Prosser attended a meeting with Epstein even after the financier was handed his first conviction for sex trafficking. He also exchanged a statement seemingly from a spokesperson for Mandelson seeking to distance the Labour heavyweight from Epstein and sought his counsel over a potential sale to investment bank Lazard.
Wegg-Prosser has emphatically denied having any formal ties with Epstein or ever knowing about the true nature of Mandelson’s relationship with him.
Separately, City AM understands that PR shop Sodali has drafted in Wegg-Prosser, a former spin doctor under Tony Blair, as an external adviser.
In what is his first known role since leaving Global Counsel, the ex-publishing executive is advising on a range of strategic matters, including a major review the firm is conducting of the public affairs landscape. London-headquartered Sodali – formerly Powerscourt – has since made a string of redundancies, though a person close to the firm denied any connection between the two events.
FGS and Interpath declined to comment. Flint Global did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
A spokesman for Sodali said: “Ben Wegg-Prosser has advised Sodali on a review of the global public policy consultancy market.”