PwC shuffles senior staff

PwC, the leading professional services firm, yesterday was to announce a shake-up of senior management as it continues its reorganisation.

There are six new appointments. The most important is that of Tom O’Neill, currently head of the Canadian operation, who becomes chief operating officer with responsibility for day-to-day operations. The changes are partly to give James Schiro, the chief executive, more time to concentrate on the break-up of the firm. The biggest step in the separation will be the sale, or partial sale, of PwC’s consultancy arm. It will become a separate business with a market value estimated by analysts at $20bn.

PwC has been in discussions with a number of consultancy groups about a sale. It has also been considering an initial public offering of part of the business, selling the rest as minority stakes to outside consultancies. The firm would not comment on timing but those close to the talks said the future of the consultancy practice would be announced at the end of August or beginning of September.

Potential partners were carrying out due diligence, those close to the talks said. One proposal would see partner companies buying 20 percent each of the consultancy business with the rest scheduled for an IPO. The partners would be given seats on the board of the new company.

Possible contenders include Sun Microsystems and Unisys in the US which have expressed interest in beefing up their consultancy arms. In Germany, the consultancy divisions of Siemens and Deutsche Telekom have said they would like to expand their interests in the US. Reuters