Awards 2007: Tax Team of the Year
And the winner of the Tax Team of the Year award is...
Sponsored by rpc
Winner: PricewaterhouseCoopers
In what the judges described as a category featuring ‘an incredibly high
standard of entries’, it was PricewaterhouseCoopers’ M&A tax team that
finally emerged victorious after a closely fought battle.
The team provides bespoke, expert commercial tax advice to clients with the
aim of maximising the tax value arising from transactions while, of course,
minimising and managing any tax risk.
And, in what was a very healthy market, the PricewaterhouseCoopers team
enjoyed a great year with record transaction numbers – measured by both the
value and volume of deals. As a result its revenues soared by 40%.
In 2007 the PricewaterhouseCoopers team advised on a wide variety of
transactions – from FTSE100 demergers and some of the largest European private
equity buyouts, to a whole range of initial public offerings, refinancings,
disposals and acquisitions of UK and international companies.
The team worked on high-profile deals, including 12 of the top 15 private
equitybacked transactions in 2006 – from BAA to Thames Water and Associated
British Ports to Center Parcs and Travelodge.
More than the headline numbers, however, the judges were impressed with
PricewaterhouseCoopers’ client testimonials, detailed case studies and the way
in which it showed evidence of technical excellence and commercial know-how, its
ability to co-ordinate and its speed and stamina.
This was best highlighted by the PricewaterhouseCoopers team’s ability to
cope with a material change in a tax law that impacted on a deal a week before
it had been due to complete.
‘To pull that off was an impressive performance by an impressive team,’ said
one judge. ‘They responded quickly and diligently.’