PwC plans to swallow Booz & Co in bid to expand its consultancy business

Booz & Co, the world's oldest management consultant, was yesterday swallowed up by PwC, as consolidation in the sector picks up pace.

The US firm, which has 3,000 staff, was founded in 1914 by Edwin Booz, who began his business near his native Chicago. The company was the subject of merger interest from Accenture earlier in the summer.

The deal must be approved by Booz's partners in December and is also likely to attract the attention of regulators. It comes as the UK's big four professional services firms look to spread their business beyond traditional audit and accountancy work. PwC – which sold its previous consulting business to IBM in 2002 – was linked with consultant Roland Berger earlier this year.

Dennis Nally, PwC international chairman, said: "This proposed combination with our existing assurance, advisory and tax capabilities would create a stand-out professional services organisation that delivers first-class quality services to a broad range of stakeholders.

"In particular, it would give CEOs the opportunity to work with a global consulting team that could provide services from strategy development right through to execution."

The Booz Allen Hamilton US Government consulting business was split from the general consulting business in 2008.