With international M&A deals heating up, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ has set a new record of USD 25.2 billion in revenue activity in 2007, on growth of over 14 percent, putting it ahead of the other Big Four accounting firms.
In its 2007 global annual report released yesterday (Oct. 30), PwC revealed that its revenue from international tax and advisory services had grown over 15%, boosted by accelerated international M&A activity.
The report also showed growth trends in the firm’s different global territories. In particular, revenue growth in Central and Eastern Europe was highest, at over 20%, while revenue in the Middle East grew 18.8%. Looking at individual countries, India, China and several Middle Eastern countries all experienced strong growth in the double digits.
In addition, M&A continues to be a hot topic, with deals in the first half of 2007 reaching USD 2.18 trillion, an increase of nearly 80% over the same period of 2006.
“As many as 70% of deals do not capture the value expected, which highlights the importance of relying on professionals participating in M&A transactions” emphasizes PwC Taiwan Senior Partner Albert Hsueh. The steep rise in M&A volume does not necessarily imply that deals will succeed: “Especially with the profound changes affecting the current global business environment, it will be an even more formidable challenge to seize key opportunities and realize the value deals are intended to capture.”
As Albert Hsueh observes, using M&A to hasten entrance into new markets has become an important strategy for enterprises looking for growth. As Taiwan’s corporations expand their global presence, they have an even greater need to take stock of all the M&A issues, maximize value creation from M&A deals and truly exploit synergies.
But with the trend toward internationalization of capital markets, harmonization of global accounting standards is also an important question. Recent years have seen US GAAP gradually integrating IFRS (International Financial Reporting Standards), and it is estimated that 150 countries will have adopted IFRS by 2011.
Albert Hsueh stated with conviction that, following the Accounting Research and Development Foundation’s amendment of numerous accounting standards, Taiwan had almost completed its convergence with international accounting principles over the last few years. In the future, as efforts focus on putting them into practical application, the international convergence of Taiwan’s accounting principles will help boost information transparency in domestic capital markets.
During the press release meeting, Mr. Hsueh also stressed that “only corporations with social responsibility can truly succeed at business continuity,” especially if you are one of the world’s largest providers of professional services, and at PwC, where corporate social responsibility has long been an issue of concern, colleagues within the firm have been participating in PwC global and regional community service projects, such as Project Ulysses and the Developing Responsible Leaders Project, which assist developing countries develop and improve the lives of local citizens. And they actively help the disadvantaged by contributing to non-profit groups, including serving as professional consultants to over 60 charitable organizations, sponsoring the Arts Promotion Association for the Disabled, “adopting” Forest Black Tea grown in an earthquake-devastated region, and supporting the I-Link Community Service Association’s work for people with Down’s syndrome and the developmentally disabled through employee activities and product purchase commitments. In the future, PwC will continue to uphold these kinds of commitments, reaching out further to deepen its involvement in the public interest and translate its corporate social responsibility into concrete action.
