The global derby to land the headquarters of an independent Experian Group Ltd. has taken a new twist.
Last year, Costa Mesa, home to Experian’s Americas headquarters, faced off with London for the global headquarters of the credit reporting company, which Britain’s GUS PLC spun off in 2006.
London soon won out, with most shareholders of the spinoff in Britain.
Not so fast.
Experian, which counts yearly sales of nearly $2 billion, now calls Dublin, Ireland, its “on the books” headquarters.
Irish tax incentives for foreign companies proved a big pull for Experian.
“Ireland’s government is particularly corporate friendly,” said Peg Smith, executive vice president for Experian. “It’s the country that’s most conducive to international tax planning.”
Experian had a low tax rate under GUS, which no longer exists after spinning off Experian and retailer Home Retail Group PLC.
As an independent company, Experian sought to sustain a low tax rate, Smith said.
Other big financial services companies, including Britain’s Abbey PLC and New York’s Citigroup Inc., have put operations in Ireland for the same reason.
Experian already had a small office in Dublin, which housed a consumer credit unit and marketing unit.
The company’s headquarters and other operations are set to be housed in a new building sometime in the spring.
But London still wins out. The company’s power center will be in the city.
Chief Executive Don Robert, who’s run the company from Costa Mesa, is set to move from Orange County to London.
He’ll join Chief Financial Officer Paul Brooks, a London native, and other executives.
Having a big presence in London is key for an independent Experian. It started trading on the London Stock Exchange in October last year and had a recent market value of $12 billion.
“Our investor community for the most part is in London,” Smith said. “We want to be very close to the London Stock Exchange and the investor community.”
Experian plans to keep its Experian International unit, which oversees Europe and the world other than the Americas, in Nottingham, in the middle of England.
The company’s top executives spend most of their time traveling among Experian’s global sites, Smith said.
“Our geographic footprint for this business is so broad that we have to have centers that allow us to work around the time zone issues,” she said.
Costa Mesa has been the company’s de facto headquarters for years. Experian employs about 1,500 people locally, most in Costa Mesa and some in Irvine (see foreign-owned companies list on page 16, story page 5).
The Costa Mesa site continues to be a growth driver.
“We’ve been in Orange County for decades, and we are extremely committed to the community and to creating jobs,” Smith said. “None of that changes simply because the corporate headquarters are in Dublin.” n
