Accountancy Firm Joins Pricewaterhousecoopers

Issued by Beattie Rickman

November 24, 2006.

NEWS RELEASE

Hamilton Accountancy Firm Joins Pricewaterhousecoopers

High profile Hamilton-based accountancy firm Beattie Rickman is to become part of the New Zealand firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the world¹s largest network of professional service firms.

>From January the Hamilton practice, which has just finished celebrating 75 years, will discontinue the name of Beattie Rickman and will become the Hamilton office of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

It becomes the seventh PwC office in New Zealand alongside Auckland, Wellington, New Plymouth, Napier, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Beattie Rickman managing partner, Julie Rickman, said staff had been told of the decision to join PwC earlier this week and were very positive about the move.

Beattie Rickman clients had also been informed.

Mrs Rickman will continue as the managing partner of the Hamilton office.

Chief executive officer of PricewaterhouseCoopers in New Zealand, Warwick Hunt, said it was ³an exciting move to welcome Beattie Rickman on board.

³The partners and staff at the firm have an excellent reputation and we are delighted to have such a talented team joining us.²

He said the time was right for PwC to move into the Waikato.

³This is one of the fastest growing regions for local business in New Zealand and our move here forms an important part of our strategy to reinvest in the regions and reinvigorate our presence in these local markets,² said Mr Hunt.

After the merger PwC will have 93 partners and 1000 staff in New Zealand, cementing its position as the largest professional services firm in the country.

The global network of PwC firms has more than 140,000 staff and operates in 149 countries.

In New Zealand, PwC has been involved in several recent high profile projects.

Earlier this year the firm was involved as financial adviser to TradeMe in the sale of the internet auction business to Fairfax for $700 million.

PwC also received media attention when partner Brian Roche was appointed as Crown Manager by the Government and charged with restoring public confidence in the tertiary institute, Te Wananga o Aotearoa.

Mrs Rickman, who took over the role as managing partner of Beattie Rickman almost a year ago from husband Jerry Rickman, said today that for clients and staff it was ³more than business as usual² with a new name.

She said that for clients, the benefits included immediate access to high-level expertise at both a national and international level.

The PwC connection would also strengthen staff recruitment strategies with overseas employment opportunities and secondments becoming readily available through the firm¹s global network.

ENDS

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