EY’s Baldwin says rationale for break up remains

DAVOS, Switzerland (Reuters) – Breaking up EY into separate consulting and auditing companies would have increased growth potential, although there are no plans to revive the plan in the short term, EY’s global managing partner Andy Baldwin said on Tuesday.

The “Project Everest” plan to spin off EY’s consultancy activities was paused last year due to opposition from the company’s U.S. partners.

Baldwin told Reuters’ Global Markets Forum that EY expects “double-digit” growth in coming years as it invests in technology and AI, but that the strategic rationale for a split had not gone away.

“Obviously the separation would have unlocked a lot more market growth potential,” Baldwin said. “I don’t see us revisiting the sale of the consulting business in the short term.”

(Reporting Divya Chowdhury in Davos, additional reporting by Anisha Sircar and Mehnaz Yasmin in Bengaluru, writing by Huw Jones in London, Editing by Louise Heavens)