The flotation of the consultancy arm of international accountancy firm KPMG will mean windfall profits for the firm's 45 Irish partners. But a spokesman for KPMG said yesterday that it was "far too soon" to discuss exactly what the move would mean for the operation in Ireland.
As KPMG splits its accounting and consultancy operations, the international consultancy section is to become a publicly quoted company worth, at current estimates, between $4 billion and $5.6 billion. The move must be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission in the US.
Under the plan, KPMG accountants will hold 20 per cent of the new company on flotation but will sell off that stake within five years. When that stake is sold the KPMG partners worldwide will be able to turn their paper profits into cash.
The other shareholders will include the Internet equipment provider, Cisco, which last year invested $1 billion in KPMG, with a 20 per cent stake, and the managing directors of the new company who will own 5 per cent. The remaining 55 per cent will be offered on the market.
Revenues at the international consultancy operation rose by 40 per cent last year to $2 billion. But growth has slowed this year with a revenue increase of 16 per cent for the nine months to end March.
A spokesman for KPMG consulting in the Irish market declined to provide any revenue figures. Set up in Dublin in 1975, the business has 160 employees and specialised in e-business, information technology consultancy, customer relations management, human resources and systems integration. Its chairman is Mr John Condon.
Revenue has grown rapidly in recent years as the Irish business benefited from the buoyancy in the economy.
In addition to Mr Condon, the KPMG partners involved in the consultancy business include Mr Paul Toner and Mr Gordon Wilkinson. The KPMG managing partner is Mr Jerome Kennedy.
