LONDON (Bloomberg) — Kroll Inc., the investigative firm acquired by insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan Cos. two years ago, denied a newspaper report that its founder was considering buying the company back."Nothing of the sort is in the works," Jodie Rosenbloom, a spokeswoman for Kroll, said today. A report in the London-based Sunday Times yesterday, citing no one, said Jules Kroll had approached Marsh's board to discuss taking it private again. Rosenbloom said Kroll had no such discussions.

Marsh chief executive officer Michael Cherkasky hasn't recouped most of the $11.7 billion in market value lost after a 2004 probe of insurance sales practices shook investor confidence and eroded brokerage revenue. Last month he said he would consider selling Putnam Investments, its flagging mutual-fund unit, as some analysts called for a breakup of the company.

Marsh bought New York-based Kroll in July, 2004 for $1.93 billion to offer insurance buyers intelligence gathering and investigative services. Cherkasky, Kroll's chief executive officer at the time of the acquisition, replaced Jeffrey Greenberg as CEO of the parent company later that year. Greenberg resigned after New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer accused the company of rigging insurance bids.

Jules Kroll is non-executive chairman of Kroll and vice-chairman of New York-based Marsh. Marsh spokeswoman Robin Liebowitz referred questions to Rosenbloom.

The Times reported the denial earlier yesterday, citing Jules Kroll. "There have been no conversations regarding the acquisition or spinoff of Kroll that I am aware of," the Times reported him as saying.

Kroll also told the paper his company is about 18 months behind on realiSing projected cost savings from the deal. Kroll blamed the delay on Spitzer's lawsuit, the paper said. Marsh agreed to pay $850 million to settle the suit in January 2005. It didn't admit or deny wrongdoing.