E&Y grabs Andersen in Australia
Enrst & Young claimed another part of the rapidly disintegrating Andersen empire when it announced this morning the firms' Australian practices were to merge.
The move came as little surprise as Andersen’s New Zealand operations had already agreed a deal with E&Y when talks with KPMG in Australia floundered over conflicts arising from the HIH insurance collapse.
E&Y had already raised the possibility of further deals around the world – earlier this week, E&Y’s global chief executive Bill Kimsey told Accountancy Age: ‘We have expressed an interest in talks with Andersen all around the world outside the US.’
Talks are still on-going between Andersen and KPMG over the future of the rest of the non-US network, though PwC has already grabbed Andersen’s China and Hong Kong practices.