The merger will involve all units of Andersen UK, including its tax advisory and business-consulting units, according to Reuters, citing an Andersen spokesman.
The merger is expected to be completed by July 1.
Meanwhile, several more companies dumped Andersen for another auditor.
- Management at Qwest Communications International Inc. said it would no longer use Andersen for new nonauditing work such as consulting. A decision to retain Andersen as the company's auditor for this year is subject to review by Qwest's board of directors.
- Manpower Inc. reported it hired PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as its independent auditor, replacing Andersen.
- Westin Hotels LP management said it hired Ernst & Young as the company's new auditor, replacing Andersen.
- Innovative Solutions & Support Inc., which makes flight-information computers, electronic displays, and monitoring systems that measure critical flight information, said it fired Andersen as its auditor. The company noted in an SEC filing that its audit committee and board directed management to interview the four remaining Big Five accounting firms and select one of them as the new auditor.
Short Takes
>> UBS Warburg health-care analyst William McKeever said in a report Wednesday that the managed-care companies he follows increased their premiums "in the 13 percent area" during the first quarter.
>> JetBlue Airways Corp. lifted the anticipated price for its IPO of 5.5 million shares to a range of $25 to $26 a share from $22 to $24, according to an SEC filing. As a result, the upstart start-up could wind up raising as much as $143 million. It plans to use the net proceeds for working capital and capital expenditures, including aircraft purchases.
>> Tiffany CFO James N. Fernandez saw his 2001 bonus slashed to $84,000 from $436,000 the year before. Altogether he earned $628,567 last year, down from $992,486 in 2000, a decline of nearly 37 percent.
>> Keycorp CFO K. Brent Somers earned a salary of $461,250 last year, but he did not receive a bonus. In 2000 he was awarded a $300,000 bonus.
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