Big Five set for rebrand
Two former 'Big Five' consultancies are considering dropping all references to their former parent organisations in an attempt to distance themselves from accounting and auditing scandals.
Both Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and KPMG Consulting Inc are understood to be considering name changes and moving away from the brands of their former Big Five colleagues.
As the fallout from the Enron scandal continued to spread through the accounting profession, CGEY is said to be planning to drop the Ernst & Young reference after integrating the Ernst & Young consulting business while KPMG Consulting could change its name completely.
However, a spokesman for CGEY denied the move, saying that following the merger in May 2000, the company had agreed to use the E&Y name for four years.
‘It is an accounting problem, not a problem for us,’ he said.
The news came as other consultancies considered the best way forward for their businesses.
Andersen Consulting was forced to change its name to Accenture at the beginning of last year after its bitter split with Arthur Andersen – at the time consulting partners were not happy with the new name but with hindsight they would now accept the move was to their benefit.
In January PricewaterhouseCoopers announced it planned to float its consultancy practice after a failed attempt to sell the business to Hewlett Packard.
Deloitte & Touche was forced earlier this year to announce its intention to spin off Deloitte Consulting after bowing to market pressure to split the business from its auditing firm.
KPMG Consulting in Europe has still to decide whether it will merge with its sister company in the US and has not ruled out the possibility of a tie-up with another consultancy.
One source close to KPMG Consulting told Accountancy Age: ‘Our data room is very busy at the moment.’