Uncovering Business Partnerships: Investigating Suspected Stock Takeover of European Retailer

When a business partner of a European Retailer secretly ordered a report which can help take control of the network's stocks, it raised suspicion. Every company has the ability to build a profile containing all of its data and activities, some of which the business owner may not necessarily want to disclose.

In the private market, there are "independent" review companies that can write reviews about any company for a suitable fee. They can include a critical analysis of the company's management, financing failures, liabilities, ownership of other companies that may indicate competition infringement, and violation of trade laws.

When the client approached us, revealing that such a report was published about his network without authorization, he requested to understand who was behind the report, other than the company that signed it. The suspicion was that it a major shareholder who was trying to gain control.

As part of the suspected stock takeover investigation process, we have constructed a profile of the company that published the report. As part of the profile, we identified all those involved in the company, including CXO's, the Board of Directors, stockholders, and other related companies.

When we have reviewed the list of names and investigated each one thoroughly. As we neared the end of the list, we discovered that one of the minority shareholders (3-4%) had a business relationship with the same majority shareholder that the client had suspected from the get-go.

At this point, the client has a choice between pushing forward, searching for conclusive evidence of that shareholder's involvement, or settling for this information and continuing as he sees fit.

In this case, the data provided the client with the necessary level of assurance and completed the information needed to build an action plan in response, which included using the information presented to him, as leverage.