The international auditing company Arthur Andersen and consulting group KPMG are preparing to hold 'concrete' talks on merging their activities outside the US.
Jerome Kennedy, Managing Partner of KPMG Ireland and Roddy Ryan, Managing Partner of Andersen's Irish operations, have confirmed that the two firms will enter into negotiations with a view to merging the two practices in Ireland.
In a joint statement, the companies said the merger will create Ireland's leading professional services firm with some 1,400 people employed and a combined turnover in excess of €150 million.
'We are each committed to ensuring this merger fulfils the aspirations of all our people,' the two firms said.
'We believe the combined firm will provide unrivalled opportunities for our people, and will provide outstanding service and expertise across a broad range of disciplines to our clients,' the statement added.
Reports have long said that Arthur Andersen was in informal merger talks with European counterparts. The company has been seeking help from another of the 'big five' international consulting firms to pull out of troubles brought on by its involvement in the Enron corporate debacle in the US.
The US Justice Department indicted the accountancy firm last week for obstruction of justice for shredding documents and destroying e-mails connected to the failed energy giant. A criminal conviction could bar the world's fifth largest accountancy firm from providing audit services to publicly traded companies regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Meanwhile, US pharmaceutical giant Wyeth announced it was parting company with its long-time auditor Arthur Andersen last night, joining a growing list of clients that have abandoned the embattled accountancy firm.
The company's board of directors has appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as its independent auditors for 2002, severing a 33-year business relationship with Andersen. The US pharmaceutical and research company joins a roll call of corporations including Sara Lee, Merck and Co, Delta Air Lines and FedEx, that have deserted the world's fifth-largest accounting firm in the wake of the Enron scandal.
Consumer products giant Sara Lee also appointed PricewaterhouseCoopers as its new auditor yesterday, after dropping Andersen as its auditor after 37 years on Friday.
