Alaska fisheries-focused data firm McDowell Group sold

Investment group McKinley Capital Management has purchased the research and data analysis firm McDowell Group, according to a statement last month from McKinley.

McKinley is based in Anchorage, Alaska, with offices in Chicago, New York, and Abu Dhabi, while McDowell has offices in both Anchorage and Juneau. A price for the sale has not been made available. McKinley manages a global portfolio worth around USD 5 billion (EUR 4.5 billion).

McDowell is well known in the seafood world for its value assessments of the industry, including its continuously updated Economic Value of Alaska’s Seafood Industry Report, which is prepared for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

A McKinley press release said that the group plans to use McDowell’s near half-century of experience in multidisciplinary research to form a new research and consulting arm.

McDowell Group principal Susan Bell, who is a former Alaska commerce commissioner, will assume a new position on McKinley’s management team as director of economic research and consulting.

“The research we do at McDowell goes hand-in-hand with McKinley Capital’s data-driven method of investing,” Bell said. “To lead McKinley Capital’s new economic research unit is an honor and I look forward to seeing how integrating McDowell and McKinley Capital will bring new possibilities to Alaska as a whole.” 

McKinley Capital CEO Rob Gillam said the acquisition would help strengthen McDowell’s research and analytical strength.

“This acquisition is great for McKinley Capital, for McDowell group and for Alaska,” Gillam said. “It provides McKinley Capital with a new business unit and complimentary capacity; it provides a long-term ownership plan and expanded clientele for McDowell; and it strengthens and solidifies two Alaska businesses, which together proved more than 60 high-paying jobs.”

Gillam said the purchase would allow his company to improve its ability to market the appeal of investing in the state.

“We are very excited about joining forces with McKinley Capital,” McDowell Group Principal Jim Calvin said. “We see this transition as a natural evolution for our firm, giving us greater opportunity to meet Alaska’s research and consulting needs.”