Revenue, in billions Price Waterhouse Coopers* Here is how the top firms would rank worldwide: CAPTION:IF THE BIG 6 BECOME 5 The planned merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, if approved, would create the largest accounting firm in the world. Both companies have worked in the pharmaceuticals sector and in energy. The companies noted that they also have expertise in different product sectors, with Price Waterhouse specializing in chemicals, while Coopers & Lybrand's expertise is in consumer products and manufacturing. The companies also would benefit from combining Coopers & Lybrand's strength in Europe with that of Price Waterhouse in South America, he said. before its breakup and which represents many of the Baby Bells, has a strong telecommunications practice, while Price Waterhouse is considered an expert in media and entertainment, Bowman said. Coopers & Lybrand, which represented American Telephone & Telegraph Co. The fastest growing part of the big firms' business now is consulting, and the companies' tax practice is the other major activity.Ĭoopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse said they have strengths that complement each other. Auditing has become almost a commodity that the companies sell through price competition, he said. Price Waterhouse has 1,400 employees in the Washington area, and Coopers & Lybrand has more than 800 workers here.Īccounting firms today are different from the old-style firms, which existed primarily to perform number-crunching and provide corporate audits, according to Bowman. The companies, both of which have their world headquarters in London, said they don't expect the merger to result in a reduction of employment. As a result, the outcome is not as certain as it normally is in mergers that require shareholder or board approval, said Bowman, who said he expects it to be approved. Bowman, editor of Bowman's Accounting Report published in Atlanta. ![]() The companies are "really federations of firms practicing under the same names with the same standards," said Arthur W. ![]() Schiro, chief executive of Price Waterhouse, will also serve in that capacity in the newly created company, which is still unnamed.īefore the merger can take place it must be approved by the 8,500 partners in the two firms. Moore, who is chairman of Coopers & Lybrand International and who will serve as chairman of the new company, said the merger is being driven "by the recognition that our clients require seamless global support and unprecedented levels of expertise that, until now, were simply not available from any one organization." to become Ernst & Young, and Deloitte Haskins & Sells merged with Touche Ross & Co. The proposed merger, which would reduce the ranks of the Big Six accounting firms to the Big Five, would continue a trend begun in the 1980s, when Ernst & Whinney merged with Arthur Young Co. The two companies together would have had combined revenue of $11.8 billion in 1996, putting them ahead of the current industry leader Arthur Andersen Worldwide. Coopers & Lybrand LLP and Price Waterhouse LLP announced yesterday that they will merge to form the world's largest accounting and consulting firm.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |