By Lewis Jackson
SYDNEY (Reuters) – Private equity group Allegro Funds said on Monday it had received the final approval for its takeover of Scyne Advisory, PwC Australia’s former government consulting wing, clearing the way for the deal to close this week.
PwC Australia sold the business, once responsible for a fifth of revenue, in June for A$1 ($0.65) as government departments cut ties with the “big four” firm because of a national scandal involving leaked tax plans.
Renamed Scyne Advisory, the sale is set to complete this Wednesday after Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board cleared the deal on Monday, Allegro Funds said in a statement.
Roughly 1,400 of PwC Australia’s more than 9,000 staff have moved over to the new business, although the new firm last month rescinded offers to dozens of staff who had been set to join, amid a slowing economy.
“Scyne Advisory is ready to go – we have strong governance in place, and we are set up well for a clean transition of clients and employees,” Allegro Funds co-founder Adrian Loader said in a statement.
The Department of Finance, which sets procurement rules, last month gave Scyne Advisory the all clear to resume work with the government and said no staff involved in the tax leaks scandal had transferred to the firm.
($1 = 1.5359 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Tom Hogue and Miral Fahmy)
