Major acquisitions by two of the most well-known UK-based consulting firms could see them expand into lucrative markets.

Detica and the Management Consulting Group have made big purchases, including m.a. partners and Ineum. The deals, representing more than £100m in value, have been made to propel the firms forward into new markets.

Detica’s acquisition of m.a. partners, at £32.3m, sees the group move to grow in the financial services market, which it sees as having tremendous potential due to the complexity of financial products and the regulatory regime they operate within, including requirements such as Basel II and MiFiD.

‘Capital market represents one of the largest and fastest growing consulting sectors driven by the sheer volumes of data, the complexity of financial instruments, international and local regulatory initiatives and a continued drive for efficiency gains,’ said Detica chief executive Tom Black.

MCG’s £81m acquisition of Ineum, the French spin-off of Deloitte’s consulting arm, will see some merger work for the business. Parson Consulting, the financial management arm of MCG, will combine with Ineum to grow consulting revenues across mainland Europe.

Parson will operate under new chief executive Didier Taupin, who has been president of Ineum since 2003. Current chief executive Rick Fumo will retire, but continue to work with specific clients, and will act as chairman of the advisers to Parson.

The acquisition is a boost for MCG, which has struggled to drive revenues in North America following a slowdown in Sarbanes-Oxley work. Recent interims showed Parson’s North American operations post a loss of £1.9m compared with a profit of £1m a year earlier.