Teneo

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Teneo
TypePrivate
FoundedJune 2011
FoundersDeclan Kelly
Paul Keary
Doug Band
Headquarters280 Park Avenue,
New York City
,
United States
Areas served
Worldwide
Key people
Paul Keary (CEO)[1]
Ursula Burns (Chairwoman)[2]
Websitewww.teneo.com

Teneo is a public relations and advisory company.[3][4][5] The company was founded in June 2011 by Declan Kelly, Paul Keary, and Doug Band,[6] and currently has more than 1,250 employees located in 33 offices around the world.[7][8] In 2019, Teneo sold a majority stake to CVC Capital Partners, at a total valuation of around $700 million.[3]

Teneo has been the subject of controversy primarily over its extensive ties to the Clinton family and the leveraging of those ties for its business purposes. Founder Declan Kelly was a close associate and Economic Envoy to Ireland under Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and the firm has employed personnel connected to the family, including Huma Abedin while she was still working at the Department of State.[9][10]

History[]

2011-2014[]

In June 2011, Teneo was founded in New York by three partners: Declan Kelly, Douglas Band, and Paul Keary.[6][11][12] Kelly took on the roles of chairman and CEO, Band became president,[13] and Keary took on the role of chief operating officer.[6][11]

Tony Blair and Bill Clinton were both announced as members of Teneo's advisory board with Clinton later becoming a client and paid advisor to Teneo and its founders.[13][14][15] Clinton was paid $2.5 million per year in the role.[16] Clinton departed from the role in March 2012.[17]

Teneo was headquartered first in New York's Citigroup Center building and later nearby at 280 Park Avenue, with satellite offices in Washington, D.C., London, and Toronto.[6][18][19]

By the summer of 2012 the firm's clients included Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola, UBS Americas, and Standard Chartered.[17] By 2013, the firm's relationship with the Clinton family had become a point of controversy for the press[20][14] as well as some Republican party politicians.[21][22][23]

New York private equity firm BC Partners made a minority investment in Teneo in December 2014.[24][25] Thereafter, Teneo grew from operating 6 divisions[26] to 12 divisions, including an executive recruitment operation and a corporate governance arm, through business acquisitions and recruiting."[24]

2015 - 2018[]

Charles Watson was named the chairman of Teneo International in January 2015, with oversight of Teneo's non-US operations.[27] FIFA became a client in July 2015,[28] and also around that time Teneo advised Willis Group Holdings on its merger with the consulting firm Towers Watson, a deal valued at $18 billion.[29] In the first six months of 2015, Teneo advised clients on "communications and investor relations for 10 different M&A deals worth a total of over $60 billion."[29] On July 9, 2015, Teneo acquired the London-based communications agencies Blue Rubicon and Stockwell, effectively doubling in size.[27][29][28] Subsequently, on October 26, 2015, Teneo acquired Pendomer Communications in London.[30] The acquisition[31] doubled Teneo's employee count to about 500[28] and brought the headcount at Teneo's London office to 200.[30]

Teneo expanded its operations in Canada in 2016.[32] That spring, Teneo announced that Twelve Rolling Capital would join the Teneo Capital investment banking platform.[33] Teneo acquired the Irish PR firm PSG Communications in July 2016.[34] PSG at the time had clients such as AIG.[34] Teneo was also advising FIFA on its reorganisation, and was "working on Los Angeles’s bid to host the 2024 Summer Olympics."[34] That month, Teneo considered an initial public offering for 2017 with a projected valuation of up to $1 billion.[35] At the time, Teneo had roughly 500 clients.[35] Teneo combined its two Irish businesses in March 2017.[36] Teneo also assisted in crafting the Boston bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics.[37]

2018 - 2021[]

In November 2018, Teneo became the primary sponsor of Tipperary GAA.[38][39] In March 2019 Teneo acquired Quay Advisers, a communications consultancy in Australia.[40] In the summer of 2019, Teneo agreed to sell a majority stake to CVC Capital Partners in a deal that valued Teneo at around $700 million.[7] In December 2019, Teneo announced its sponsorship of pro golfer, Shane Lowry.[41][42]

In January 2020, Teneo acquired Montreal-based communications company Hatley Strategy Advisors.[43] It also acquired the London-based executive search firm Ridgeway Partners in the same month. In February 2020, it acquired communications company Bridge PR.[44] In August 2020, Teneo acquired Goldin Associates, a financial advisory firm.[45] In February 2021, Teneo acquired the UK restructuring business unit of Deloitte.[46] At time of rating, Moody's ruled this partially debt funded acquisition as 'moderate credit positive', decreasing debt-to-EBITDA from 6.5x to 6.1x. Teneo's overall rating remained at B2.[47] In August 2021, Teneo acquired the executive search firm Anna Whitlam People.

Controversy[]

Founding partner Declan Kelly has been criticized for using his time at the State Department under Hillary Clinton to pursue ventures that evolved into the founding of Teneo, despite potential conflicts of interest.[9] Among the Podesta emails were emails that mentioned the money Teneo had raised for the Clintons, including $8 million for the Clinton Foundation, and $3 million for Bill Clinton in speaking fees.[48] Chelsea Clinton had been critical of Teneo's involvement in the Foundation, expressing concern in internal emails that they were using the Foundation for "hustling" their own business.[48][49]

During the latter half of 2012, Huma Abedin was working as a paid consultant for Teneo while simultaneously working as a special government employee for U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.[21][22] In 2015, Teneo received information requests from the office of U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley as part of a review into a State Department waiver granted to Abedin that had allowed her to earn income outside the government[23][50][51][52] in 2012.[53] The company refused to yield to the requests, responding that Teneo was "committed to the highest ethical and professional standards," with Abedin asserting that Teneo had never asked her to do any compromising work.[23] Abedin was reported to have signed a contract with Teneo pledging to avoid conflict of interest problems,[23] and a 2015 freedom of information request showed emails where she recused herself from several situations for that reason.[54] Though the issue was seen as controversial by Republicans, The Journal noted that there "was no evidence of any fundraising, donations, or services provided by Teneo executives to the State Department or Hillary Clinton during her time as Secretary of State."[52]

Separately, Teneo has received public scrutiny for its other business dealings.[55] In 2016, Teneo was hired by McDonald's in an effort to combat Fight for $15, a campaign to raise the minimum wage.[37][56] In 2019 Teneo was contracted to represent the planned Saudi Arabian city of NEOM, a project that has been criticized by human rights organizations.[57] In May 2019, Teneo staff in London experienced disciplinary action from UK CEO Gordon Tempest-Hay for poor office behaviour in an email later shared with the UK press.[58][59] Teneo was involved in private arbitration in June 2019 over its involvement in the bidding process for the oil company Anadarko, with Teneo refuting allegations that it had violated conflict of interest provisions when working for two of the bidding companies.[60] In October 2019, Teneo was revealed to have provided services to Oxycotin manufacturer Purdue Pharma.[61]

In 2020, it was reported that ex-managing director and Trump campaign strategist Jason Miller, previously fired for a series of incendiary comments on Twitter,[62] was still allegedly receiving payments from the company beyond the date of his termination.[63][64] Teneo sought to use Miller's connections to Republicans close to President Trump.[65] In September 2020, it was also disclosed that Teneo was contracted by Russian billionaire Mikhail Fridman to provide strategic counsel and stakeholder outreach.[66]

Teneo was a named defendant in a lawsuit filed by Cigna investors for its role in a 'Trojan Horse' campaign aimed at "making misleading public statements...[and] proffering non-credible testimony".[67] The case was later covered by the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance, where it found "that the case underscores the need to exercise caution when hiring an outside adviser or communications firm". The Forum went on to comment that "the case is a vivid and cautionary tale reinforcing that the mere retention of a communications firm by a law firm will not create privilege and that an aggressive assertion of privilege in such a manner can undermine credibility".[68]

In 2021, articles published in The Times reported on an understanding that Teneo employee Craig Oliver (British journalist) had promoted the interests of Greensill Capital in the months leading up to its collapse.[69][70] Craig Oliver previously worked for David Cameron,[70] the former UK prime minister accused of performing lobbying activities on behalf of Greensill.[71] Teneo has previously acted as a public relations representative to Greensill[72][73] and retains 3 former colleagues of David Cameron as advisors.[74] In March 2021, a letter from the Office of the Registrar of Consultant Lobbyists received a response from Teneo asserting that "Sir Craig Oliver did not lobby anyone in government on behalf of Greensill Capital".[75] In May 2021, it was revealed investigations by the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, as well as broader public interest, had constructed a timeline of business dealings between key Navajo Nation figures, AR-15 manufacturer Remington Arms and Teneo.[76] From 2018[77] to 2020, Teneo was engaged several times to assist in a potential transaction to acquire Remington Arms on behalf of the Navajo Nation. Teneo was reportedly paid $150,000 per month in as part of its 2020 contract and would have made as much as $10 million if the deal had closed. At the time, the Navajo Nation Department of Justice raised several issues with the adequacy of the legal due diligence conducted, among other red flag issues. According to the Navajo Nation Budget and Finance Committee, the deal “could lead to substantial risks to the Nation” for multiple reasons.

On June 24, 2021, it was reported by the Financial Times that Chairman and CEO Declan Kelly had inappropriately touched six women at a Global Citizen (organization) charity fundraising event in May. An investigation was launched and Kelly was removed from his role on Global Citizen’s board the following day, which is chaired by Christopher Stadler, an investor responsible for managing CVC Capital Partners’s stake in Teneo.[78] During this time, other sources additionally alleged that Kelly was engaged in an affair with a subordinate executive.[79] On June 25, Teneo was reported to have held a call with its UK-based senior advisors, General Motors had dropped Teneo as its public relations advisor[80] and a senior managing director had resigned from the company.[81] On June 29, it was announced that Declan Kelly had resigned from Teneo[82] and the role of chairman and CEO had been taken up by co-founder Paul Keary.[1][83] Shortly thereafter, Ursula Burns was appointed as chairwomen of Teneo.[84]

Services, facilities and staff[]

CVC Capital Partners has described Teneo's core service as "providing strategic and communications services, which covers a wide array of engagements such as customer communications, crisis management, investor relations, digital and social media consulting, executive recruitment, and litigation management."[85]

Headquartered at 280 Park Avenue in Manhattan,[86][19][87] as of 2019 the firm had offices in 18 other locations as well.[86]

Philanthropy[]

Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative[]

In late 2014, Teneo and former professional tennis player Billie Jean King co-founded the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative (BJKLI). Teneo co-founder Paul Keary stated the non-profit aims to achieve "understanding through research the impediments to diversity and inclusion in the workplace, and then to develop the economic and commercial rationale for diversity and inclusion in the workforce."[88]

See also[]

References[]

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External links[]

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