PwC to buy corporate consultancy Booz & Co

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), one of the world's 'Big Four' audit firms, yesterday said that it would buy corporate consultancy Booz & Co. for an undisclosed sum.

The transaction is subject to approval by Booz & Co's nearly 300 partners, who are expected to vote in December.

Founded in 1914 by Edwin Booz, New York City-based Booz & Co separated itself from US government consulting business Booz Allen Hamilton in 2008 and was acquired by private equity firm Carlyle Group.

Carlyle holds a majority stake in Booz Allen Hamilton and is said to have control over the use of the Booz name.

Booz & Co, whose clients include BP, Thomas Cook and NYSE Euronext, offers a range of consultancy services including strategy, financial restructuring and merger planning and integration.

It employs more than 3,000 people in 57 offices worldwide, and estimated 2012 revenue was around $1.4 billion, according to research firm Kennedy Information.

''We have an unwavering commitment to helping our clients succeed. This has been our mantra since our founder, Edwin Booz, invented the management consulting profession almost 100 years ago,'' said Cesare Mainardi, CEO of Booz & Co. ''Our goal is to help clients identify and build the differentiating capabilities they need to win. This potential combination would not only deliver on this innovative value proposition but would also help reinvent management consulting for the next century.''

London-based PwC was formed through the 1998 merger between Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse and shortened its name to PwC in 2010 as part of a major rebranding exercise.

It generates revenues of $31.5 billion annually by providing tax advisory, consulting, financial advisory, actuarial and legal services.

PwC employs more than 184,000 people in 157 countries and competes with Deloitte, Ernst & Young, and Deloitte.

Dennis Nally, chairman of PwC, said ''We believe this proposed combination of Booz & Company with our existing Assurance, Advisory and Tax capabilities would create a stand-out professional services organisation that delivers first class quality services to a broad range of stakeholders. In particular, it would give CEOs the opportunity to work with a global consulting team that could 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 would only add to that strength,'' he added.

''Until the results of Booz & Company's partner vote are known it will be business as usual, with both organisations staying fully focused on serving their stakeholders,'' PwC said in a statement.