HIG joins private equity pack circling KPMG’s restructuring arm

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Advertising agency firm Mission Group said it is traded in line with lowered expectations outlined late last year, as it steams ahead with its turnaround plan
Advertising agency firm Mission Group said it is traded in line with lowered expectations outlined late last year, as it steams ahead with its turnaround plan

HIG Europe has joined a pack of private equity bidders vying to buy the UK restructuring arm of KPMG.

HIG is one of four parties shortlisted to acquire the business, which was put up for sale last year, Sky News first reported.

It is understood Intermediate Capital Group is another private equity business interested in the restructuring business.

It is rumoured the auction could fetch as much as £400m.

In November, an email to colleagues from KPMG’s 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. 

Some 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.