PwC Norway integrates Olso office of Livework into consulting division
The Norwegian arm of PwC has acquired the Norwegian arm of Livework, a service design agency with six offices across the globe. The deal sees Livework Oslo integrated into the Consulting division of PwC Norway, with the merger creating ‘PwC + Livework Norway’.
Operating with offices in London, Oslo, Rotterdam and Sao Paulo, and further studios in Helsinki and Beirut, Livework provides design services for among other areas customer centricity, product/service innovation and customer service propositions. The company was founded in 2001 and has around 80 employees.
The firm has however from the 1st of September 2018 spun-off its Olso office to accounting and consulting giant PwC. For the Big Four firm, the bolt-on adds a range of creative, design and analytical skills to its consulting team, which is estimated to employ around 350 consultants in the country. “We are very excited to take this step together with Livework,” said Petter Vold, Deputy Managing Director of PwC Norway and Head of PwC Consulting, adding, “Livework will be part of our advisory community in Oslo.”
“While the news may raise the eyebrows of many, to us it’s a natural continuation of three years of collaboration that has proven itself with our joint clients, and with both companies’ teams,” commented Lavrans Løvlie, who now has been appointed a Partner of the new PwC + Livework Norway. “PwC is a perfect match for our journey, and we are looking forward to becoming part of an interdisciplinary team.” The transitioning team will move from its current office into PwC's premises in Bjørvika, where the Big Four firm also has an Experience Centre – PwC recently launched three such centres in Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg.
As part of the transaction terms, PwC and Livework have agreed that PwC + Livework Norway can continue to use the Livework name in its brand for the coming three years, in a move that resembles how PwC kept the Booz & Company tagline for a holding period after it acquired Booz & Company, after which the strategic consultancy firm was rebranded as Strategy&.
Interestingly, the carve-out of its Norwegian operations is described by Ben Reason, Managing Partner of Livework, as an “opportunity” for the firm; “We will miss the partnership with the Norway Studio, but at the same time be in a better position to grow as a leading international service design consultancy following this transaction. This will have a positive impact on our capability to improve the lives of our clients and their customers.”
According to an analysis from The Boston Consulting Group, Norway is the globe's best country for turning prosperity into citizen wellbeing. Meanwhile in Norway’s €626 million consulting industry, earlier this year Orkla selected Accenture to implement a SAP S/4HANA system.