GLG, the world’s largest expert network, filed for IPO yesterday. It has 1 million experts on its books and facilitates calls between them and its 2,700 clients. Its S-1 highlights the power of aggregation. 👇👇
Problem is, it’s expensive to manage. GLG employs 2,300 people and its margin crunches down to ~20% at the EBITDA level. Technology could be a solution. “Over the past two years, we have invested heavily—and expect to continue to invest—in digitizing the GLG experience.”
The market is highly competitive – there are over 150 expert networks. GLG reckons it’s 2.3x larger than the next biggest competitor. The firm is banking on the market growing though as “the world’s economy is shifting increasingly towards knowledge work.”
One network in Japan, VisasQ, went public last year at a valuation of 5x revenue and now trades at 20x revenue. GLG has invited its experts to participate in its IPO. I wonder where they’ll land?
