Good morning,

Private equity investor Allegro Funds has finally signed the binding long-form sales agreement to purchase PwC’s local public sector consulting operations, which is being rebranded as Scyne Advisory, Street Talk can reveal.

The Tuesday evening signing means regulatory approval is the only thing keeping Scyne executives from operating as an independent business, free of the troubled PwC.

Foreign Investment Review Board approval is still required due to Allegro’s foreign investors. The completion date for the deal has now been pushed out to early October.

Scyne, an Old English word with various meanings including beautiful, fair and bright, has almost 120 former PwC partners and more than 1400 staff from the big four firm. It will provide government, health, infrastructure, defence and risk advisory consulting services to federal and state governments and public sector bodies.

Allegro is investing about $100 million in Scyne, which it acquired for $1 in July. The breakaway firm is targeting the potential $250 million in annual Commonwealth contracts PwC was cut out of after the extent of its tax leaks scandal became public.

There is also another potential $350 million in public sector contracts up for grabs now that PwC has retreated from this type of advisory.

Scyne is still searching for a permanent leader, with ex-PwC partner Richard Gwilym acting in the role, and has yet to appoint a chairman.

As for the signing, Gilbert+Tobin were on hand for PwC; Freehills stepped up for Allegro.

Happy reading,

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The Regal Resources Royalties Fund, which is rounding up investors for a $50 million capital raising, has a 60 per cent weighting to energy. Around 25 per cent is in precious metals and 8 per cent in base metals.

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