Deloitte buys 70-person asset management specialist Nihar

Deloitte has boosted its asset management capabilities with the acquisition of Perth-based engineering services consultancy Nihar.

Now part of Deloitte’s consulting business, Nihar specialises in asset management engineering services – including capital projects, operations readiness, asset management and performance optimisation – for the oil & gas, mining and minerals, manufacturing, and utilities sectors.

The addition of the 70-stong Nihar team comes months after Deloitte also strengthened the strategy and transactions part of its consulting business, following the arrival of the Perth-based team from Mainsheet Capital.

“It’s great to welcome the team from Nihar as we continue to invest in high priority domains underpinned by the innovative use of technology,” said Deloitte CEO Adam Powick. “This move will bring together exceptional skills in asset management, operational readiness and engineering with Deloitte’s proven digital expertise, enabling us to deliver market leading solutions for asset intensive clients and sectors.”

Deloitte’s asset management consulting team now has 260 partners and staff, working for clients across asset heavy sectors, including energy & utilities. Previously, Deloitte also acquired Brisbane-based Bluefield to bolster this team.

“The Nihar team will further strengthen Deloitte's existing asset management capabilities with a particular focus on supporting clients in the energy sector to enhance the safety, reliability, sustainability and profit performance of both existing and new assets,” said Bernadette Cullinane, Industry Leader Energy, Resources and Industrials at Deloitte.

“The energy industry is capital and asset intensive, complex and integrated so strong asset management is crucial to business success.”

The deal is Deloitte’s sixth in Australia this calendar year. Since 2018, the Big Four firm has closed more than 30 acquisitions nationally, in part helping the firm leapfrog PwC as the Big Four leader in the Australian market.

Arun Mukhopadhyay, the founder of Nihar, said: “I'm delighted to see the team from Nihar moving to Deloitte where it can scale and succeed with one of the world’s leading operations engineering businesses.”