PwC set to make more than £200,000 an hour from Lehmans job
Experts estimate PwC will be making more than £200,000 in an hour, based on all 520 people on the Lehmans administration paid an average of £472 for 60 minutes' work
PricewaterhouseCoopers is set to charge fees at a rate of more than £200,000
an hour for the Lehmans administration, industry experts have estimated.
The firm is gearing up to meet the Lehmans’ creditors committee later today
to hammer out their fees for the massive job, which is expected to carry on for
years.
120 people from its business recovery division are being backed up by 400 PwC
staff specialising in corporate finance, banking, forensic, tax, performance
improvement consulting and human resources.
PwC said recently that costs were accruing at about £4m a week, but
projections taken from one of the firm’s recent jobs suggest that the firm could
bill double that in fees.
However, one leading IP said PwC could charge a premium on their normal rate
because of the complexity of the job. ‘They are more likely to ask for up to 50%
of their rate or maybe double.’
The estimate is based on an administration the firm took on in October. Based
on figures filed at Companies House, Accountancy Age has calculated PwC’s
average hourly charge to be in the region of £472 an hour for each of the 520
people working on the administration.
This is based on the maximum charge rates for partners, directors, senior
managers, associates and specialists in the Companies House document.
Fees can be billed in two ways on an administration. The administrators can
broker a deal for a percentage of the final dividend when money has been
returned to creditors or PwC can charge for time and materials. It is expected
the firm will bill for time and materials.