BDO International announces appointment of new Member Firms in India

28 August 2008

The Haribhakti Group, consisting of the aforementioned firms, was founded in 1951 in Mumbai, by Mr. V B Haribhakti, the Chairman Emeritus and Chief Mentor of the group and former President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. 

Headquartered in Mumbai, the financial capital of India, the Haribhakti Group has eight branch offices across India, in Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad Jaipur, Vadodara, Pune and Ajmer. Turnover for the group for the year ending 31 March 2008 was INR 290 million, approximately ˆ4.8 million / US$ 7.5 million. The group is currently governed by a team of 12 Partners and 11 Operating Directors.

The group has built an extensive client base across diverse industry sectors, including banking and financial services, telecoms, pharmaceutical, retail, information technology and real estate. It has a rich history of working with government and quasi-governmental bodies, as well as large private sector companies, on various types of professional engagements. In addition to the audit and assurance practice, the group has a vibrant business and risk assurance practice and renders taxation, corporate finance, transactions advisory and KPO services.

Mr. Shailesh Haribhakti, Executive Chairman and Managing Partner of the group, says: “We are looking forward to a long and mutually rewarding association with BDO. Our group’s global vision and strategy have a great synergy with those of BDO. This places our partnership on a strong footing to become a true challenger to the global competitors in India. We are confident that BDO will be able to leverage the firm’s strength in India to align with the network’s overall growth strategy. Our growth plans are ambitious. We anticipate that our workforce across India will be 3,000+ within the next 5 years. Through collaboration with BDO Member Firms throughout the world, we look forward to rendering world class, continuously innovative and high quality services in all areas of practice”.

Mr. Sunil Sharma, CEO, and Mr. Chetan Desai, Joint Managing Partner, expressed their strong commitment to build scalable business models with BDO which would give to the Haribhakti team the right blend of experience and training, at both domestic and international levels. They believe that such models are of paramount importance in creating sustainable growth for the Haribhakti Group and the BDO network as a whole. Frans Samyn, CEO of BDO International, is equally optimistic concerning the future of BDO in India. “Partnering with such a respected firm, whose growth ambitions are centred very much on ensuring the recruitment and retention of talented and motivated people, can only serve to further BDO’s reputation for offering partners and staff unequalled flexibility and autonomy within a stimulating working environment. As a network, we in BDO aim to consistently improve our international clients’ experience with us, an objective which a strong firm in the increasingly important Indian marketplace will certainly help to fulfil”.

Note to editors:

BDO International is a world wide network of public accounting firms, called BDO Member Firms, serving international clients. Each BDO Member Firm is an independent legal entity in its own country. The combined total fee income of all BDO Member Firms was US$ 4.704 billion in 2007. The global network has 626 offices in 110 countries, and 31,500 partners and staff in the Member Firms provide business advisory services throughout the world.

 

For further information please contact:

BDO Global Coordination Office Brussels, Belgium

Tel: (+32 2) 778 0130; Fax: (+32 2) 778 0143; e-mail: bdoglobal@bdoglobal.com