EY beefs up MENA management consulting division with PACS
EY has beefed up its consulting practice in the Middle East with the acquisition of Dubai-based management consultancy Pinnacle Advisory and Consulting Services.
Founded in 2015, by Elie Barnaba and Roger Kastoun following a joint spell at Boston Consulting Group, Pinnacle Advisory and Consulting Services (PACS) is a boutique that specialises in business transformation, strategy execution, and team enablement.
Since its inception, the firm has grown to a size of just under 20 consultants and staff, and built a track record in industries including public sector, family businesses and SMEs, education, financial services, and energy and utilities.
Welcoming the PACS team to EY’s consulting division, Wasim Khan, EY MENA Consulting Leader, said: “The addition of the team from PACS to the our consulting practice allow us to expand our offerings and fortify our capabilities in business transformation.”
EY’s MENA Chairman and CEO Abdulaziz Al-Sowailim added: “The addition of this team from PACS into our consulting practice is not only a financial investment, but one in talent, knowledge, and niche capabilities that will help drive growth for EY and its stakeholders.”
“We are proud to welcome PACS… together we can continue to work towards our purpose of building a better working world through our ‘Transformation Realized’ framework.”
Transformation Realized is EY’s global proprietary approach to delivering business transformation – an integral approach that brings the world of strategy, people, technology and innovation together for adding-value outcomes.
Expanding on the approach, Khan – who is end responsible for the offering in the Middle East – said: “The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation of our clients across all industries – changing both customer and employee expectations around their experiences. The nature of work is quickly evolving, and with that comes the demand to be more innovative, agile, and collaborative.”
“At EY, we look at how we can support organisations through the deployment of technology and data to integrate functions and enable new business models seamlessly. By placing humans at the centre of all that we do, our clients can realise long-term value for people, business, and society as a whole.”
Meanwhile, for PACS, the joining of forces will provide the firm with the opportunity to expand its capabilities, while enable its employees to benefit from EY’s regional and global network. Present in the region since 1923, EY currently has over 7,500 people across 21 offices and 16 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
The integration will see PACS co-founders Elie Barnaba (ex-BCG and Philips) and Roger Kastoun (ec-BCG, Strategy& and KPMG) become a partner at EY. The PACS team will join EY across its offices in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
For EY, the deal is the first in the region in over five years. Globally, the Big Four firm has acquired close to a dozen targets, with the majority in the consulting and digital space.