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| File:Company logo2015xxxx.png | |
| Type | Limited Company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Market Intelligence and Analysis, Competitive Intelligence, Strategy Consulting |
| Founded | Script error: No such module "Date time". |
| Founders | Markko Varnaas, Jouko Virtanen, Pekka Korpi, Leif Backman |
| Defunct | October 14, 2014 (acquired by M-Brain Group) |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Markko Vaarnas (CEO), Janne Kärkkäinen (CFO), Jouko Virtanen (Senior Vice President, Head of Americas), Nicolas Pechet (Senior Vice President, Head of Asia), Thomas Rideg (Senior Vice President, Head of Western Europe), Jan Kovero (Senior Vice President, Head of Intelligence Services), Saku Oikarinen (Senior Vice President, Global Customer Management), Ville Vanhala (Senior Vice President, Research & Monitoring Services)[1] |
| Services | Market Monitoring, Market Intelligence, Market Analysis, Competitive Intelligence, Strategic Analysis & Advisory |
| Revenue | > €15 million (in 2014) |
| Owners | Management Team, CapMan Group (2007-2014)[2][3][4] |
Number of employees | 150+ |
| Website | www |
Global Intelligence Alliance Group (GIA) was a boutique international market intelligence and advisory company offering market monitoring, intelligence and analysis services and consulting.[5] In September, 2014 GIA was acquired by M-Brain Group for ~EUR17.7 million (USD22.9M).[6][7][8] The company had 11 offices in Europe, North and South America, and Asia.[7]
GIA was founded in 1995 by Markko Varnaas, Jouko Virtanen, Pekka Korpi, Ville Vanhala and Leif Backman. The firm focused heavily on the Finnish market initially, then on the European markets before embarking on aggressive international expansion.
GIA completed several acquisitions as part of its global expansion, including:[9]
The company primarily served Global 2000 corporate clients, investment banks and private equity firms.
GIA structured its industry expertise around 11 core industry practices:
GIA consultants and analysts regularly published research and articles about business issues, market dynamics and market intelligence best practices.
In August 2011, GIA published a book on Market Intelligence entitled Handbook of Market Intelligence: Understand, Compete and Grow in Global Markets. The book was published by John Wiley & Sons . Authors are Hans Hedin, Irmeli Hirvensalo, and Markko Vaarnas.[11][12]