PwC launches business services team

PricewaterhouseCoopers has established a new team within its corporate finance division dedicated to the business services sector. Simon Hawes, a partner at the firm, will lead the new team. He says deregulation and privatisation have led to a growth in outsourcing, which is the key driver behind this new group.

The team will focus on sectors such as logistics, outsourcing, human capital management and facilities management. It will initially bring together a team of 10 in the UK, who have been working on industries in the sector elsewhere within PricewaterhouseCoopers. Hawes, who has a background in plc advisory work and private equity transactions, believes the business services sector offers plenty of mid-market private equity opportunities as some companies divest their assets and others implement buy & build strategies. It will also meet the demands of the firm’s corporate clients, including domestic and cross-border M&A advice.

PricewaterhouseCoopers already focuses on 24 market sectors, which are grouped into five clusters; consumer and industrial products, energies and utilities, services, technology, telecommunications and entertainment and financial services. At first the business services team will be part of the consumer and industrial products group.