Kreller Companies


Kreller Companies is an American corporate investigations and risk management firm based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Since its founding in the late 1980s, it has advised clients on efficient use of third-party business information vendors. However, today the firm offers a wide range of business intelligence services with specialties in custom due diligence and investigations.
Kreller Companies employs licensed investigators and analysts with experience in federal, state and local law enforcement. The company has its corporate offices in the United States and has official representation in Mexico, Brazil, China, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia.
The firm has advised on business deals in North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Latin America related to a number of industries, including health care, telecommunications, defense, energy, manufacturing, and finance. Its clients include Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, and government entities.
In January 2020, Kreller Companies announced that it had acquired D.C.-based Smith Brandon International.

History

From 1982 to 1988, Joe Davidoski worked in sales for Dun & Bradstreet, a publicly traded company that, at the time, had a 90% market share of the credit-check market. While there, Davidoski was one of the company's top salesmen. After raising concerns internally for several years, in June 1988, a day after the enactment of Ohio's Whistleblower Statute, Davidoski sent a letter to management detailing the misleading and unethical nature of the company's selling practices. The story of his employer's alleged misconduct made front-page news, and Davidoski was featured on American news programs, including 20/20. Davidoski's complaints led to several lawsuits and inquiries. In June 1989, Dun & Bradstreet agreed to settle a number of these for $18 million.
In 1989, Davidoski left and formed Kreller, Inc., today known as Kreller Companies. One of the company's initial services was to help customers navigate convoluted sales processes used by third-party data providers, including those of Dun & Bradstreet.
In 1991, Kreller Companies expanded its offerings to include international credit reports that collected information from a global network of investigators it had built.
In the mid-1990s, Kreller Companies began offering international due diligence services. In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the company's profile rose and its business doubled as Fortune 500 companies sought to sever ties with anyone potentially linked to Al Qaeda.
In January 2020, Kreller Companies announced its acquisition of Smith Brandon International, a boutique corporate investigations and risk consulting firm based in Washington, D.C.

Companies

Kreller Companies offers its services across four companies: Kreller Group, Kreller Credit, Kreller Consulting, and Smith Brandon International.

Kreller Group

Kreller Group provides international due diligence background research using a network of local investigators for on-the-ground intel on entities around the globe. Kreller Group conducts investigations into both companies and individuals with whom its clients are considering business dealings, such as joint ventures or mergers and acquisitions. Kreller Group also provides advice on how to select international business partners.
In addition, Kreller Group counsels its clients on adherence to anti-corruption acts, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In 2012, Kreller Group launched Kreller Online, an online portal used by clients to aid ongoing regulatory compliance with anti-corruption acts.

Kreller Credit

Kreller Credit conducts international credit queries, credit reporting, and in-country risk evaluations and provides assurances that certain credit transactions are authentic. It also assists its clients with collection efforts and asset recovery from both individuals and companies around the world.

Kreller Consulting

Kreller Consulting advises its clients on strategies to reduce expense on information products sold by third-party vendors. It also advises clients on best practices as they consider purchasing information service subscriptions.
Kreller Consulting specializes in information services related to commercial credit, consumer credit, law, insurance, real estate, and debt collections.

Smith Brandon International

In January 2020, Kreller Companies announced that it had acquired Smith Brandon International. SBI is a boutique corporate investigations and risk consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. The firm offers a range of services, including high-level political analysis, global due diligence, risk avoidance, corporate investigations, financial investigations, political risk assessments and business intelligence services.