Ashtead drops PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been dropped as auditor of Ashtead, the plant hire group hit by an accounting scandal last year.
Link: Ashtead hit by US accounting errors
A spokesperson for PwC confirmed that it was no longer auditor of Ashtead, but said the firm could not comment on the affairs of previous clients.
The company has appointed Deloitte as its new auditor.
According to the Financial Times, the decision to drop PwC came after Ashtead decided to raise £130m through a European high yield bond offering, which requires its auditor to issue an audit opinion on its accounts for the last three years – under SEC rules.
PwC is understood not to have been prepared to sign off again on accounts that were rendered incorrect by the discovery of balance sheet problems at Ashtead subsidiary, Sunbelt Rentals last year.
The accounting errors at Sunbelt cost the company in excess of £16m.