EXCLUSIVE: Andersens' divorce heats up
The Andersens' divorce took another turn today with Andersen Consulting revealing it has 800 pieces of evidence which it believes show Arthur Andersen has breached a competition agreement.
Speaking exclusively to AccountancyAge.com, AC partner in charge of the split, Jon Conahan, said he had handed over to the arbitrator proposals issued by AA, that he claims offer AC competencies as its own.
‘We have in our possession direct evidence of 800 proposals issued by AA offering AC competencies to companies in the Global 1000 as their own. We have since handed these over to the arbitrator Dr Guillermo Gamba,’ said Conahan, just days before a decision on their divorce is settled.
The case centres on claims AA breached an agreement not to compete in business consulting with AC. The arbitrator will also decide who is responsible for the legal fees, which may be as high as £70m.
But a spokesperson for AA this afternoon told AccountancyAge.com that there was only one possible case where a breach ‘might have occurred’.
He added: ‘It is interesting that the number has crept up from 700 to 800 when in fact they had only obtained one piece of work which might have been an Andersen Consulting project.’
Today’s revelation comes as a decision into the meetings determining the split reaches a climax in Paris. The two and half year dispute now looks set to explode following a battle fought predominantly behind closed doors.
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