Mazars, an international assurance, tax and advisory services firm, is bullish about its growth prospects in India and aims to double its professional base to 1,500 people over the next three-four years, said Bharat Dhawan, Partner, Mazars.
“We are looking at both organic and inorganic routes for growth. We are in discussions with one or two mid-sized regional players for acquisitions,” Dhawan told
In the next two months, Mazars also plans to introduce a new service line of ‘NPA management’ in India. Asked if Mazars was late to bring the service to the Indian market, he replied: “We were slow, but surely will catch up. The volume of work available here in India is tremendous.”
As on date, France-headquartered Mazars has about 750 professionals on its rolls in India.
Dhawan also said that Mazars has decided to enter the insolvency space in India, given the huge professional opportunities in this area. “We have applied to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Board of India to set up an Insolvency Professional Entity (IPE),” he said.
It may be recalled that IBBI had recently institutionalised the concept of an IPE, whose sole objective would be to provide support services to insolvency professionals who are its partners or directors.
An IPE can take the form of a company, a limited liability partnership, or a partnership, IBBI had said.
IBBI has also stipulated that the minimum net worth of an IPE should be ₹1 crore.
Dhawan also said that Mazars would soon look at strengthening its financial advisory services practice. He also noted that a lot of forensic work is coming up in the area of insolvency cases.