In corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are transactions in which the ownership of companies, other business organizations, or their operating units are transferred or consolidated with other entities. As an aspect of strategic management, M&A can allow enterprises to grow or downsize, and change the nature of their business or competitive position.
The Big Four is the nickname used to refer collectively to the four largest professional services networks in the world, consisting of the global accounting networks Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC. The four networks are often grouped together for a number of reasons: they are each comparable in size relative to the rest of the market, both in terms of revenue and workforce; they are each considered equal in their ability to provide a wide scope of professional services to their clients; and, among those looking to start a career in professional services, particularly accounting, they are considered equally attractive networks to work in, because of the frequency with which these firms engage with Fortune 500 companies.
KPMG International Limited is a British-Dutch multinational professional services network, and one of the Big Four accounting organizations.
Financial services are the economic services provided by the finance industry, which encompasses a broad range of businesses that manage money, including credit unions, banks, credit-card companies, insurance companies, accountancy companies, consumer-finance companies, stock brokerages, investment funds, individual asset managers, and some government-sponsored enterprises.
The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie", is a share index of the 100 companies listed on the London Stock Exchange with the highest market capitalisation. The index is maintained by the FTSE Group, a subsidiary of the London Stock Exchange Group.
Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs is a non-ministerial department of the UK Government responsible for the collection of taxes, the payment of some forms of state support, the administration of other regulatory regimes including the national minimum wage and the issuance of national insurance numbers. HMRC was formed by the merger of the Inland Revenue and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, which took effect on 18 April 2005. The department's logo is the St Edward's Crown enclosed within a circle.
Lloyds Bank plc is a British retail and commercial bank with branches across England and Wales. It has traditionally been considered one of the "Big Four" clearing banks. Lloyds Bank is the largest retail bank in Britain, and has an extensive network of branches and ATMs in England and Wales and offers 24-hour telephone and online banking services. As of 2012 it had 16 million personal customers and small business accounts.
Grant Thornton LLP is the American member firm of Grant Thornton International, the seventh largest accounting network in the world by combined fee income. Grant Thornton LLP is the sixth largest U.S. accounting and advisory organization. The firm operates 59 offices across the US with approximately 8,500 employees, 550 partners, and produces annual revenue in excess of US$1.9 billion.
In business, consolidation or amalgamation is the merger and acquisition of many smaller companies into a few much larger ones. In the context of financial accounting, consolidation refers to the aggregation of financial statements of a group company as consolidated financial statements. The taxation term of consolidation refers to the treatment of a group of companies and other entities as one entity for tax purposes. Under the Halsbury's Laws of England, 'amalgamation' is defined as "a blending together of two or more undertakings into one undertaking, the shareholders of each blending company, becoming, substantially, the shareholders of the blended undertakings. There may be amalgamations, either by transfer of two or more undertakings to a new company or the transfer of one or more companies to an existing company".
Mitie Group PLC is a British strategic outsourcing and energy services company. It provides infrastructure consultancy, facilities management, property management, energy and healthcare services. It has a head office at The Shard in London and more than 200 smaller offices throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.
RSM Robson Rhodes LLP was a partnership of chartered accountants in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It was the UK member firm of RSM Global, the 6th largest network of professional accountancy firms in the world. With offices throughout the UK and Ireland, the firm offered auditing, consultancy and tax services to a wide variety of organisations in the private and public sectors.
RSM Tenon was a professional services firm based in the United Kingdom, which was listed on the FTSE SmallCap Index and part of RSM Global. The company was formed from the merger of the Tenon Group with RSM Bentley Jennison in December 2009.
Mazars is a global audit, accounting and consulting group employing more than 42,000 professionals in more than 90 countries through member firms. With head offices in France, Mazars has a network of correspondent partners and joint ventures in a further 21 countries and is a founding member of the Praxity alliance, a network of independent firms.
Tilney is a financial planning and investment firm with head offices in Mayfair, London. The company is part of the Tilney Group and offers financial planning, investment management and investment advisory services to private clients. The company acquired competitors Towry in early 2017 and the combined business holds £21 billion of client assets.
Concentrix is an American business services company specializing in customer engagement and business performance. Concentrix was a subsidiary of SYNNEX Corporation since 2006 and went public as an independent company on December 1, 2020. Concentrix is headquartered in Fremont, California.
Vantis plc was an accountancy firm based in London, England, providing accounting, tax and business advice to owner-managed businesses, listed companies, not for profit organisations, high-net-worth individuals and other professionals. It was placed in administration on 29 June 2010 and promptly broken up, with the various offices and businesses being sold as going concerns.
Bestinvest is an investment company based in Mayfair, London. It provides execution-only investment services predominantly to private investors, as well as financial planning, investment management and investment advisory services as part of the Tilney Group.
Blairmore Holdings, Inc. was an offshore investment company established by Ian Cameron, father of former British Prime Minister, David Cameron. Following the Panama Papers leak, it was discovered that Blairmore Holdings was a customer of Mossack Fonseca, a large Panamanian law firm and corporate service provider at the centre of an international scandal on tax havens, tax avoidance and corruption.
K2 was an offshore wealth management scheme in which salaries of individuals in the United Kingdom were channelled through shell corporations in Jersey, Channel Islands. In June 2012, media reporting of people using K2 for the purposes of tax avoidance was followed by the United Kingdom's Prime Minister David Cameron characterising the scheme as "morally wrong". Later that year the UK government began to introduce legislation to deter people from using such schemes.
Evelyn Partners is a financial services company based in the United Kingdom. It is formerly known as Tilney Smith & Williamson, which was the result of a 2020 merger between Tilney and Smith & Williamson. The group also operates the online investment service Bestinvest.
