Jul, 2002 : IBM to Buy Consulting Group for $3.5 Billion

📅 July 31, 2002 - IBM announced on Tuesday that it plans to buy PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting for $3.5 billion, in a move that could enhance the company's shift to provide information technology as a utility-like service to corporate customers.

Analysts say the deal is a means for PricewaterhouseCoopers to separate its consulting business from its accounting business. The deal also means PricewaterhouseCoopers will abandon previous plans to sell shares in the consulting firm to the public and base the consulting company in Bermuda.
Business critics have said consulting and auditing businesses should operate separately to eliminate pressure auditors might feel if a company whose books they are auditing pays the firm for consulting.
Through the deal, IBM is buying growth during a period of sagging revenue and depressed technology markets. The PricewaterhouseCoopers consulting and technology services arm is projected to have revenue of $4.9 billion in 2002.
Talks between the companies reportedly began in New York on July 18. The talks were supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission because PricewaterhouseCoopers provides auditing for IBM.