A decision by consultancy EY to split its business into separate entities for audit services and management consultancy has been pushed back to later this year because of the “complexity” of Project Everest, as the plan is internally known.
EY Luxembourg said it remains committed to the ambitious plan.
The firm’s Luxembourg partners, like their counterparts in the firm’s national businesses across the world, had been due to vote on the plan by the end of this month. In Luxembourg, a spokesperson said that the vote will still take place, but that had been pushed back to “a later stage in 2023 due to the complexity of the transaction”.
“As part of our deliberation and due diligence in connection with the proposed transaction, we are engaging in a dialogue with the largest EY country member firms to determine the final shape of the transaction,” EY Luxembourg said in a statement.
Project would re-shape profession
“This transaction is complex and will be the roadmap for the re-shaping the profession, so it is important we get this right. We remain committed to the strategic rationale that underpins Project Everest and believe that a deal can and should be done.”
Last November, EY Luxembourg, one of the Big Four accounting and consulting firms, said its 65 partners in the grand duchy would decide on the demerger during the first quarter of next year.
The plan is internally known as Project Everest and is part of a major strategic overhaul being prepared at EY worldwide.
In Luxembourg, “demerging” the audit services would create a new entity that will employ a little over one thousand of its 1.800 employees and that is expected to hold a similar share of the firm’s 325 million euro in annual revenue. The audit services entity will retain the EY brand, while a new brand name is being considered for its management consultancy services.