The global partners of Booz & Company, a management consulting firm, have voted overwhelmingly to approve a combination with UK-based PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), a professional services firm.

The two organizations announced October 30 they had signed a conditional merger agreement. Following the required regulatory approvals and assuming the fulfillment of other customary closing conditions, the deal is expected to conclude in the first quarter of 2014.

Together PwC and Booz & Company will form a leading global advisory business that designs winning strategies for the world’s top companies and can execute them across a wide range of functions and service offerings, a statement said.

“Clients are demanding practical strategies that deliver sustainable outcomes.  Our industry is responding with consolidation across the consulting spectrum.  We have chosen to lead this change – to deliver better results for our clients and help transform our industry,” said Cesare Mainardi, CEO of Booz & Company.

“We believe this positions us together as a ‘Category of One’ - the only global consulting team that’s figured out how to truly bridge the best of operational and strategy consulting.”

Until the closing, the two organizations will continue operating as separate firms.  After closing, PwC and Booz & Company will work together to create a global operating model for the new combined business.

The branding for the business, under the PwC umbrella, is being jointly determined now and will be announced in the coming months.

“We are in business for one reason – to solve clients’ toughest problems,” said Joe Saddi, chairman of Booz & Company. “Our 99-year legacy of delivering high-impact, practical strategies, combined with PwC’s breadth and depth of capabilities and talent, will now allow us to bring  strategies to life with  seamless global delivery of strategy through execution.”

Since Booz & Company is a privately held firm, the financial details of the deal are not being disclosed. – TradeArabia News Service