BDO Norway and former Praxity member firm
Inter Revisjon will merge in a bid to challenge the largest
auditing and advisory firms in Norway.
The merged firm, which will continue
to operate as BDO Norway, will have more than 900 employees
and annual revenue of €125m ($178m).
This would make the firm a similar size to the
smaller Big Four firms. Deloitte Norway reported fee income of
NOK1bn ($187m) in its most recent fiscal year while KPMG reported
about $172m in its 2008/2009 fiscal year. The market leader is
PwC Norway with NOK1,98bn ($364m).
BDO Norway managing partner Trond-Morten
Lindberg said the firm has no ambition to be similar to its large
competitors and will continue to offer services in what he
describes as a ‘traditional Scandinavian way’.
“Our edge is our strong local presence all
across Norway. We are market leaders within the middle market, and
now we are increasing our efforts to win the largest companies
within this sector,” Lindberg said.
BDO’s current strategy is to expand its range
of services and earlier this month the firm also acquired integrity
services business, G-Partner.
As part of the transaction, G-Partner brings
an engagement portfolio comprising large international
corporations, a large number of small and mid-sized companies and
prominent parts of the public sector. The firm also has a number of
national and international NGOs in its portfolio.
“Through our purchase of G-Partner, BDO has
expanded our range of services significantly, and with a quality
level that is top of the market. We are also looking to grow within
tax and advisory services as well as traditional accounting. We now
have the market position and the financial backbone to succeed with
our plans in Norway,” Lindberg said.
