Gumshoes For The Global Economy

In southwestern Moscow, closed-circuit television monitors stand sentinel outside the headquarters of Gazprom, the world's biggest natural gas company. Half a world away in Sao Paulo, a Brazilian executive drives to an appointment in a Chevrolet Suburban four-by-four armored against bullets or blasts. Meanwhile, in Mexico City, an American trader receives a confidential background report on a potential Mexican business partner.

Scenes from a Hollywood spy movie? Not quite. The surveillance gear, armored car, and detective work are all the doings of a small firm headquartered in an industrial park outside Cincinnati. But the firm, until recently called O'Gara Co., is fast becoming better known. In August, 39-year-old Wilfred "Bill" and Tom O'Gara, 47, the brothers who headed the firm, acquired famed New York gumshoe agency Kroll & Associates for $89 million in stock and assumption of $11 million in debt.