PwC Seals BearingPoint Deal

PricewaterhouseCoopers' purchase of BearingPoint assets and hiring of its professionals bring significant insurance technology advisory capabilities, increasing the firm's bench strength in areas such as policy administration, claims, and sales and distribution.

PricewaterhouseCoopers has acquired the majority of BearingPoint's North American Commercial Services practice through an asset purchase transaction. As a result, PwC's Advisory practice has assumed selected contracts of BearingPoint and has hired 800 client service professionals with significant business and consulting expertise, across multiple industries, including insurance, according to PwC sources.

PwC has also agreed to acquire two global delivery centers (GDCs); one in Shanghai, China and one in Bangalore, India from BearingPoint. The acquisitions of these operations, which are expected to close in the coming months, will provide PwC clients with expanded global sourcing capabilities and competitive cost advantages, a PwC press release claims.

The acquisition of BearingPoint assets and the hiring of professionals from the firms will significantly expand the range of PwC's insurance industry expertise, according to Paul Veronneau, advisory insurance industry leader and partner, PwC. "Our traditional strengths have in finance, enterprise risk management, actuarial and we had good expertise in operations," Veronneau comments. "This will really bolster our insurance process expertise, e.g., policy administration, claims and sales and distribution, as well as bringing a Guidewire alliance."

From a broader standpoint, the acquisition of BearingPoint assets accelerates the growth of PwC's Advisory business, increases its market share in the U.S. and expands the firm's ability to meet the needs of complex global organizations, asserts Juan Pujadas, PwC's Global and U.S. Advisory leader. "Our purchase of most of BearingPoint's North American Commercial Services Business provides us with opportunities through newly acquired client relationships, multi-sector contracts and employees who bring with them a wide range of talents and expertise, including extensive IT strategy, planning and implementation credentials," Pujadas adds.

Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio