BGH-backed accounting and advisory Horizon Nexus Partners opens for business

Former PwC senior leader Robert Silverwood has launched a new accounting and advisory venture in Australia with the backing of private equity firm BGH Capital, dubbed Horizon Nexus Partners.

According to its website, Horizon Nexus Partners will primarily target high-net-worth individuals, family and private businesses, private equity, and selected listed companies with tax, accounting, deals advisory, and assurance services.

To date, just Silverwood and chief people officer Raj Tapper are listed on LinkedIn, but the company page curiously indicates between 50 – 200 employees, with established accountancy Blaze Acumen looking likely to be added to the mix.

As per the Australian Financial Review, Silverwood, a two-and-a-half decade veteran of PwC, has recently become a director of Blaze Acumen, alongside fellow former PwC partner Sanjiv Jeraj and a number of BGH leaders, with the new venture since confirming to the AFR that BGH had bought a 100 percent stake in Blaze Acumen as it goes about building a ‘national platform’.

Based in Melbourne, Blaze Acumen last year celebrated its 20 anniversary and has a headcount of around 60 professionals including nine partners, many who had previously worked at PwC. The firm is listed at 62nd on the AFR’s annual accounting rankings, generating revenues in excess of $15 million through private client, business, corporate tax and superannuation services.

The AFR confidently expects Blaze Acumen to be just the first of many acquisitions as Horizon Nexus builds to significant national scale, pointing to BGH’s previous roll-up CyberCX, which recently sold to Accenture for a reported $1 billion after just five years in business. BGH also has tech consultancy Fusion5 on its books, which has been accelerating through a string of acquisitions.

Leadership

Silverwood himself knows a thing or two about M&A, having previously served as deals leader at PwC before stepping up as financial advisory leader (and most recently advisory co-leader) in the wake of the firm’s government tax scandal, then becoming a central figure in the sale of its public sector practice – now Scyne – to Allegro. He departed at the beginning of the year.

Jeraj, who it’s said will co-lead the venture, followed soon after, having also spent over two decades at PwC with a focus on private clients. Meanwhile, Tapper joins as people chief after four years in the same role at Clemenger and previous top-level HR leadership positions at Cricket Australia, Sportsbet, and Coles. The AFR reports Horizon has also poached a partner and director from EY.

“Horizon Nexus Partners represents a deliberate shift away from traditional models built on over-extension, commoditisation, and embedded conflicts of interest – with a service model that puts trust and independence at its core,” the budding firm states on its brand new website. “For our clients, partners, and people, this is a New Deal: focused, modern, and sustainable.”