Online Extra - PricewaterhouseCoopers christened

Merger candidates Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand have finally settled on a new name for the firm.

From 1 July, the merged firm will drop Lybrand to become PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The name, presented visually through a custom-designed logotype and monogram, was conjured up by brand specialists Siegel & Gale.

Nicholas Moore, Coopers & Lybrand International chairman who will serve as chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Jim Schiro, chief executive officer of PW and the new firm, said: 'In selecting the name for our new organisation we believed that it was critically important ? and our external advisors confirmed this ? to preserve the substantial equity and value associated with the names Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand, to harness the vast reservoir of reputation and trust that both organisations have established serving clients for over 100 years. At the same time, we want to signal that we are creating something new and exciting out of that great heritage, and we have done so through the selection of name elements and their graphic presentation. Our new name and the way in which it is presented visually communicate the combination of an enormously successful past and a breakaway future.'

They added: 'Our new organisation will have the global reach, the resources, and the management structure to help our clients succeed in the future. We are moving ahead rapidly to effect global integration of our two organisations so that our clients can benefit fully and quickly from the problem-solving capabilities, global knowledge and industry expertise of the world's premier professional services organisation.'