Gobodo Incorporated, the nation's largest black professional services firm is to merge with PricewaterhouseCoopers, the world's largest.

The merged firm in South Africa will be known as PricewaterhouseCoopers Gobodo (ôPwC Gobodoö).

Mveleli Booi, Gobodo's chief executive officer, said on Thursday that from the time of the firm's creation in September 1996, its vision had been to become the country's largest black professional services firm.

Colin Beggs, chief executive officer of PwC in South Africa, said the transaction would enhance the empowerment objectives of both firms and more importantly in the area of black leadership.

The main motivation for the creation of PwC Gobodo is to position the merged firm as the new model for empowerment in professional services. This new model is in line with government's black economic empowerment objectives.

Gobodo, with 23 partners and more than 350 employees, is the largest black owned South African firm of accountants and business advisors.

PwC in South Africa, with a total staff complement of 3 800, employs 950 black professionals, more than any other firm in the professional services industry, and, at 16, boasts the largest number of black partners amongst the Big 5 firms.

The merged entity will have in excess of 1 250 black professionals with 37 black partners.

Said Booi: "Although we have achieved this to a large extent, our expansion has been constrained by an inability to further expand our capacity and infrastructure to meet demands.

"Hence the merger with PwC will accelerate the development of black professionals as industry specialists."

Booi said that PwC Gobodo would accelerate the accessibility of black professionals to the private sector.

He was confident that the PwC Gobodo formula would act as a model in creating a conducive environment for black professionals to join the profession.

Said Beggs: "The transaction must be seen against the background of PwC's long-standing commitment to the upliftment of the country generally and of black chartered accountants in particular."

He said that it was time for a new business architecture using a large international base to synergise the development of black accountants in South Africa.

"The creation of the largest representative professional services firm elevates empowerment in our profession to a new level. There is huge equity in both brands. By effecting the merger, we are clearly demonstrating the leadership position we both enjoy in our industry."

With acknowledgements to Sapa.