Allen & Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment banking |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Founder | Charles Robert Allen, Jr. |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Herbert A. Allen III (President and CEO) |
| Products | Advisory services in real estate, technology, media, and entertainment industries |
| Owner | Private ownership |
Allen & Company LLC is a privately owned boutique investment bank based in the United States, with its main office located at 711 Fifth Avenue, New York. The firm specializes in advisory services within the real estate, technology, media, and entertainment industries.
History
Established in 1922 by Charles Robert Allen, Jr., and soon joined by his brothers Herbert A. Allen, Sr. and Harold Allen, the company has built a reputation as a boutique advisory firm primarily serving real estate and media/entertainment clients. Leadership passed to Herbert Allen III, the founder’s grandnephew, in 2002. Known for maintaining discretion, Allen & Co. seldom engages in media publicity or issues press releases beyond coverage of its annual conference by leading financial news outlets.
In 1973, the firm acquired an interest in Columbia Pictures, which proved lucrative when sold to Coca-Cola in 1982; following this deal, Herbert Allen, Jr. became a member of Coca-Cola’s board. Since its inception in 1982, the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference has drawn prominent industry leaders such as Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Rupert Murdoch, and Oprah Winfrey.
Allen & Company has been instrumental in several landmark transactions: it served as one of ten underwriters for Google's initial public offering in 2004; acted as the exclusive advisor to Activision during its $18 billion merger with Vivendi Games in 2007; and provided advisory services to Facebook for its $19 billion acquisition of WhatsApp in 2014. The firm also participated as an underwriter for Twitter’s IPO in 2013.
In 2015, Allen & Co. offered advisory support to Time Warner Cable on its $80 billion merger with Charter Communications, assisted AOL during its acquisition by Verizon, guided Centene Corporation through its $6.8 billion purchase of Health Net, and advised eBay amid its PayPal spin-off.
The company took lead advisory roles in Time Warner’s $108 billion acquisition by AT&T in 2016; facilitated LinkedIn’s merger negotiations with Microsoft; supported Walmart’s $3.3 billion acquisition of Jet.com; and advised Verizon on its $4.8 billion purchase of Yahoo!. In 2017, Allen & Co. advised Chewy.com throughout PetSmart's $3.35 billion acquisition of the online retailer.
Presidents/CEOs
- Charles R. Allen, Jr. (1922–1994)
- Herbert A. Allen, Jr. (1966–2002)
- Herbert A. Allen III (2002–present)
Noteworthy former staff
- Bob Kerrey, former Nebraska Governor and U.S. Senator
- George Tenet, ex-Director of the CIA
- Stephen Greenberg, son of baseball Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg
- Bill Bradley, former U.S. Senator and Basketball Hall of Fame inductee
- Dara Khosrowshahi, CEO of Uber Technologies