Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand's long-awaited merger will herald large one-off bonuses for the partners of both firms.

Partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers will benefit from the distribution of partner profits before the new firm is inaugurated on 1 July.

But Coopers denied the payout would be a bonus. The firm's financial year ends in April, a spokeswoman said. 'So partners will be paid their partner profits for May and June.' PW refused to comment.

The merger has also created one of the longest names in UK business with a design by brand specialist Siegel & Gale, costing #1m. In a joint statement, the firms said they had kept the names of the three main founders in the title to capitalise on more than 100 years' goodwill.

Taking Stock, back page.