The practice – inclusive of 15 tax partners and 50 staff – will join PwC in June of this year. None of those professionals are HSF partners or staff.

Greenwoods & Herbert Smith Freehills was formed in the mid-80s as a multidisciplinary incorporated professional practice specialising in tax, with that partnership allowing the tax practice, as per its website, to “provide seamless client service covering both the legal and tax technical aspects of corporate and commercial transactions, compliance, transfer pricing and tax disputes”.

PwC making a “significant investment” in its tax business

One of the key drivers for joining PwC Australia, Greenwoods managing partner Manuel Makas said, was the “opportunity to be part of an extensive international network of firms and broaden the suite of services they can provide to their clients”.

“Globalisation and technology are increasingly relevant to business, and joining with PwC Australia will enable us to offer our clients a broader range of services. We believe our combined offering will be truly differentiated in the market and our clients and our teams will benefit,” he said.

PwC Australia financial advisory managing partner Pete Calleja said: “Greenwoods is very highly regarded in the market for its M&A, infrastructure, real estate, financial services and high net wealth capabilities and its partners and their teams will bolster PwC Australia’s broader financial advisory business comprised of deals, integrated infrastructure, legal, PwC private and tax.”

PwC Australia tax leader Chris Morris added: “This is a significant investment in our tax business and offers us a unique opportunity to cement our status as the number one provider of integrated tax solutions across a suite of disciplines.

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“The tax environment for businesses both globally and domestically is increasingly complex and the combination of Greenwoods with PwC Australia’s market leading tax practice will ensure we can help our clients respond to these challenges including major reforms of the international tax system and increasingly complex compliance obligations.” 

Mr Morris went on to say that the addition of the 15 partners from Greenwoods to PwC will be separate from any internal partner admissions that occur annually.

“The war for talent is hotter than ever before. That’s why we’re pleased to be bringing in 15 deeply technical and experienced partners and around 50 highly-talented staff to enable our business to continue to meet market demand and provide market leading tax advice,” Mr Morris said.

HSF looking ahead to the future

In a statement, HSF Australian executive partner Andrew Pike said that the Australian arm of the global law firm has valued its alliance with the Greenwoods partnership and that he wishes them well.

Moreover, Mr Pike flagged HSF’s own plans for a tax practice in the future.

“We are working to create our own leading tax practice that is optimal for our clients’ needs and builds on our existing strength in stamp duty and tax disputes. We are energised by this prospect given the advantages our clients see in having an integrated tax capability within the firm, and we are already in discussions with a number of tax law experts interested in joining the firm,” he said.

“As well as strengthening our own capability, we will also continue to work with external tax advisory specialists when there is a client need, as we have always done. That may include the Greenwoods partners joining PwC.”