Ernst & Young (EY) Acquires Finance and Compliance Consultancy ifb SE

by Sharon Florentine • Dec 19, 2022

EY (Ernst & Young) has acquired ifb SE, an international finance and risk transformation and compliance consultancy, headquartered in Grünwald, Germany. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal number 1,035 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2022. See more than 2,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.

Ernst & Young, founded in 1989, is headquartered in London, England. The company has 355,764 employees listed on LinkedIn. EY’s areas of expertise include advisory, assurance, tax, transactions, audit, mergers, M&A, financial services, accounting, professional services, law, technology, consulting, data, transformation, strategy, legal, digital transformation, legal, growth and managed services.

ifb, founded in 1989, is based in Grunwald, Bayern, Germany. The company has 554 employees listed on LinkedIn. ifb’s areas of expertise include SAP, compliance, business and technology consulting, finance and risk transformation, accounting, controlling, regulation, technology solutions delivery and managed services.

The acquisition will enhance EY’s finance and risk transformation and compliance capabilities, the companies said. As ifb is an SAP partner, the acquisition will also enhance EY’s capabilities in SAP transformation projects. The company will be branded EY ifb and more than 400 ifb employees and partners in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Netherlands, Luxemburg, U.S, Canada and Colombia will join EY.

EY Acquires ifb: Executive Insight

Omar Ali, EY EMEIA financial services regional managing partner, commented on the news:

“The expectations for financial services firms to transform their businesses has never been higher. Clients are looking for EY teams to provide transformation services with the support of EY Alliance partners like SAP. The EY and ifb organizations have built a relationship over the years doing just that, and now we are delighted to be welcoming Christian Moser and Claus Stegmann and the ifb teams to EY, so that we can continue to do this for more clients around the globe. They will join growing teams – our European Financial Services technology consulting businesses grew by circa 40% in the past year and I have no doubt they will help EY teams to continue providing the services our clients need.”

Alex Birkin, EY EMEIA financial services consulting leader, said:

“This acquisition will enhance EY consulting services, enabling EY teams to deliver complex, large-scale finance and risk digital transformation projects for the financial services industry. EY and ifb organizations have a proven business relationship, providing transformative technology-enabled financial and risk management and compliance services to many EY financial services clients. This acquisition is part of the wider EY Financial Services Consulting growth strategy in Europe and across the globe. I look forward to the many opportunities it will create for EY clients and teams.”

Claus Stegmann, managing director, ifb

Claus Stegmann, ifb group managing director, commented:

“This acquisition will provide ifb clients with easier access to the full range of services they require to undertake large, complex financial and risk transformation projects – from developing a holistic architecture to enabling more efficient regulatory compliance – with professionals operating under a single brand around the world.”

Christian Moser, ifb group managing director, added:

“ifb brings a unique technology capability, which aligns closely with EY business consulting teams’ experience, skills and knowledge. The combination of ifb services in technology and business consulting, and EY broader consulting services, will provide an even more powerful value chain to support clients in the finance transformation space.”

EY’s Continued Growth

Ernst & Young (EY) has been active in the M&A market, acquiring multiple MSP, MSSP and IT consulting firms worldwide. EY plans to continue its growth initiatives both organically and through continued acquisitions, the company has indicated. Key EY acquisitions have also involved application, cybersecurity and managed services expertise, as well as digital and customer experience expertise.

EY (Ernst & Young) continues to acquire IT consulting firms that have application, cybersecurity, managed services and sustainability expertise.

Some recent EY acquisitions ChannelE2E has tracked include:

November 2022: Big data analytics firm Bridge Business Consulting of Australia.

October 2022: ServiceNow workflow automation partner Red Moki of New Zealand.

September 2022: Sustainability consultancy AFARA.

August 2022: Government technology consultancy Cambria Solutions.