Partners at Booz & Company have “overwhelmingly” approved the company’s merger with PwC in what the Wall Street Journal reports will be one of the largest M&A deals closed by an accounting firm in the past decade.
Booz & Co. said the companies anticipate finalizing the deal in the first quarter of 2014, with PwC saying that regulatory approval and other closing conditions should be met in time for a March closing, according to the Journal’s Michael Rapoport.
“Clients are demanding practical strategies that deliver sustainable outcomes, ” said Cesare Mainardi, Booz & Co. chief executive. “Our industry is responding with consolidation across the consulting spectrum. We have chosen to lead this change.”
Mainardi added that the companies aim to create a ‘Category of One’ team that bridges operational and strategic consulting. The combined operations will be housed under the PwC umbrella.
Booz & Co. spun off from Booz Allen Hamilton when private equity firm Carlyle Group purchased a majority stake in Booz Allen in 2008.
The Journal reports Booz & Co. generated around $1 billion in 2012 revenue. The company provides consulting services to commercial entities in industries including healthcare, energy, telecommunications and financial services.
Rapoport writes that the deal “is expected to boost PwC’s consulting business and spotlights the major accounting firms’ push into consulting.”
