KPMG enters exclusive talks with private equity firm HIG on sale of restructuring arm
Big Four firm KPMG has entered into exclusive talks with private equity firm HIG Europe about the sale of its UK restructuring business
The deal, first reported by Sky News, could be worth some £400m.
KPMG declined to comment on the rumours, and HIG could not be reached for comment.
Sky also reported HIG has lined up John Connolly, the former chairman of Deloitte, to chair the business.
KPMG’s restructuring arm was put up for sale last year. In November, an email to colleagues from KPMG’s then UK chairman and senior partner Bill Michael said that concerns relating to conflicts of interest arising from its existing work were likely to “limit the restructuring clients we can serve and constrain our ability to maximise the growth of this business.”
As a result, the Big Four firm decided to sell its restructuring business.
Michael has since left the business after telling staff to ‘stop moaning’ about coronavirus working conditions, and claiming unconscious bias does not exist.
A total 22 of KPMG’s roughly 600 partners work in its restructuring business, alongside 475 staff members.
KPMG has been haemorrhaging contracts in the last year, according to consultancy website Consultancy UK. The giant lost 52 clients in the last year – more than the 17 EY lost, or the 27 Deloitte dropped, combined.