/ 31 October 2013

PwC announces conditional merger with consultancy group

Pwc Announces Conditional Merger With Consultancy Group

PricewaterhouseCoopers has announced that it has signed a conditional merger with corporate consultancy group with Booz & Co as part of a move to grow its representation in the consulting sector.

Dennis Nally, Chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers International, said: "We believe this proposed combination of Booz & Company with our existing Assurance, Advisory and Tax capabilities will create a stand-out professional services organisation that delivers first class quality services to a broad range of stakeholders. In particular, it will give CEOs the opportunity to work with a global consulting team that can provide services from strategy development right through to execution.

"One of the real strengths of PwC is the scope and quality of our services, giving us the ability to work with a wide range of stakeholders to build trust and solve important problems. Today's proposed merger will only add to that strength."

The Booz & Company partner vote is scheduled to take place in December and a further public announcement is expected by the end of the year. It has not been revealed what PwC has offered to pay.

According to Suresh Kana, PwC Senior Partner for Africa, the merger deepens "the expertise available to our clients around strategy, operations, human resources and information technology focussed in the energy, healthcare, communications and media, manufacturing, retail, utilities, financial services and government sectors".

PwC sold its consulting arm to IBM in 2002, which suggests a review of its strategy. 

Earlier in October, PwC said it planned to spend $1 billion growing operations worldwide in the next three years, including client offerings such as cyber-security and risk services.