Private equity accountancy firm of the year

Winner: KPMG

Highly commended: PricewaterhouseCoopers

Highly commended: Deloitte & Touche

In selecting a winner for evcj’s private equity accountancy firm of the year awards for 2000 the judges considered the number of management buyouts advised on during 2000, including advisory work for investing institutions and for management teams, the number of partners and associates dedicated to private equity and those dedicated to transaction support. Geographic reach of the private equity practice, in particular dedicated personnel across continental Europe, as well as how much the private equity practice had grown in the last year, both by deal activity and personnel were taken into account.

Winner of evcj’s private equity accountancy firm of the year for 2000 is KPMG. KPMG had a solid year in its private equity practice completing 100 management buyouts of which 60 per cent was in the UK market.

Highly commended in this category is PricewaterhouseCoopers. The firm, which boasts a strong private equity research and surveying resource, is also a strong player in the private equity advisory field. Notable transactions for the firm in 2000 include advising Doubleforecast, the ICG and The Royal Bank of Scotland backed buyout vehicle on the acquisition of CPL Aromas plc for £14.43 million; advising 3i on its $108.3 million buyout of Spanish storage service and freight management company, TCB; acting for the management buy-in team behind the acquisition of Tetley Group Ltd, worth £271 million – Schroder Ventures and PPM Ventures were the private equity firms backing this deal. PricewaterhouseCoopers also acted alongside UBS Warburg in advising Industri Kapital on its acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Alfa Laval.

Also highly commended in this category is Deloitte & Touche. Deloitte & Touche saw its private equity practice increase by nearly 20 per cent in deal numbers but this was close to 50 per cent in the increase in deal value during 2000. The firm advised on 62 management buyouts and 11 exits from buyout investments. Deals on which it advised include the £700 million public to private of Wassall and the £375 million public to private of Fairview Holdings. The firm also advised on the Bosch Private Networks acquisition. Deloitte & Touche’s corporate team grew by close to 50 per cent during 2000 and it has a dedicated private equity presence in Germany, France and Italy.