Allegro’s PwC spin-off away after 115 partners agree to join

afr.com:

Allegro Fund’s carve-up of PwC’s local operations appears to be crossing the Rubicon with the breakaway group, known as Scyne Advisory, signing up more than the 100 partners flagged as a minimum to get it off the ground.

Sources close to the process said Scyne had agreement from about 115 PwC partners to move across to the new company ahead of completion of the deal at the end of September. The private equity-backed breakaway had signalled it would offer positions to 132 PwC partners.

PwC breakaway Scyne has lured 115 partners.  Martin Ollman

Among those are the high-powered PwC figures who now make up Scyne’s leadership, from global government advisory head Tim Jackson to local practice leader David Sacks and South Australia managing partner Jamie Briggs, a former minister in the Turnbull government. Former PwC partner Richard Gwilym has been appointed Scyne’s interim chief executive.

Now the focus will turn to staff – some 1500 will be transitioned from PwC to Scyne, the business had flagged. Staff in contention to join Scyne will undertake a vetting process through the company’s probity conflict and ethics committee to ensure they are not associated with the firm’s tax leaks scandal, or any other controversy related to PwC’s operations.

Despite landing the 100 partners needed to get off the ground, there’s plenty that can go wrong. Former Telstra chief executive Ziggy Switkowski is due to hand down a report on the culture of PwC on Friday. He was brought in after The Australian Financial Review reported that PwC partners used confidential public tax information to benefit clients. In a bid to distance the new operation from PwC, Scyne will service only public sector clients.

Allegro is investing about $100 million in