故事:安永與畢馬威宣佈合併!

20世紀90年代末,有六家大型會計師事務所活躍於資本市場(按字母順序排列):Arthur Andersen、Coopers & Lybrand、Deloitte & Touche、Ernst & Young、KPMG和Price Waterhouse。1997年9月,排名第四的Price Waterhouse與排名第六的Coopers & Lybrand宣佈合併,組建當時全球最大、最具聲望的會計師事務所。
不甘被即將成立的PwC搶去風頭,排名第二的Ernst & Young和排名第三的KPMG次月也宣佈了合併計劃:
"如今真正的重點在於滿足全球企業在世界各地的業務需求。"即將擔任新公司美國CEO的KPMG美國董事長兼執行長Stephen Butler表示,"我們的客戶需要一個財務實力更強、能提供更廣泛服務和產品的公司。"
Butler說,合併後的公司將擁有充足資金,用於投資技術以及在中國、前蘇聯、拉丁美洲和亞洲拓展會計與諮詢業務。
雖然兩家公司單獨的年收入增長率已達20%,Butler預計合併後公司年增長率可達30%。
新公司將由時任KPMG全球董事長Colin Sharman領導。Ernst & Young時任全球執行長Michael Henning將擔任合併後公司的CEO。Ernst & Young美國CEO Philip Laskawy將出任合併後美國業務的董事長。全球總部將設在荷蘭阿姆斯特丹。
Sharman在倫敦新聞釋出會上表示,兩家公司已開始洽談合併。"當然,也是受到Price Waterhouse與Coopers & Lybrand宣佈合併的影響。"
不久,KPMG Peat Marwick和Ernst & Young宣佈取消合併計劃,承認監管障礙阻礙了這項本將締造全球最大會計諮詢公司的計劃。
此次取消發生在歐盟委員會對擬議合併啟動延長反壟斷調查一週後。若合併成功,將締造年收入181億美元的巨頭。
一位匿名的Ernst & Young高階合夥人表示,"綜合來看,這將耗費大量時間、金錢和心血。"
歐盟專員Karel Van Miert擔心,此次合併若是成功,加上Coopers & Lybrand與Price Waterhouse的合併計劃,將使企業選擇會計師事務所的餘地過小。這兩項交易將使"六大"會計師事務所縮減為"四大"。
如果當時Ernst & Young和KPMG合併成功,那會計師事務所的發展是否和目前一樣呢?各位小夥伴怎麼看?歡迎下方評論區留言討論!
原報道如下:

In the late 1990s there were 6 major accounting firms serving our capital markets with gusto (in alphabetical order): Arthur Andersen, Coopers & Lybrand, Deloitte & Touche, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and Price Waterhouse. Then, in September 1997, the firms of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand — #4 and #6 respectively — announced they would merge, creating the largest and prestige-iest firm in the world.
Not to be outdone by the swinging dicks at what would become PwC, #2 Ernst & Young and #3 KPMG announced they would be merging just one month later:
“The real emphasis now is to service the needs of global companies wherever they want to go in the world,” said Stephen Butler, chairman and chief executive officer of the U.S. operations of KPMG, who will be the CEO of the new firm’s U.S. operations. “Our clients require an organization that has greater financial strength and can deliver a wider array of services and products.”
Together, Butler said, the combined company will have the money needed to invest in technology and in building accounting and consulting practices in China, the former Soviet Union, Latin America and Asia.
While the firms separately have seen revenue grow by 20 percent a year, Butler expects the combined company can grow by 30 percent annually.
The new firm will be run by Colin Sharman, who is now worldwide chairman of KPMG. Michael Henning, currently Ernst & Young’s worldwide chief executive, will be the CEO of the merged firms. Philip Laskawy, U.S. CEO of Ernst & Young, will be chairman of the combined U.S. operations. The worldwide headquarters will be in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The companies have been in talks since Sept. 25, Sharman said at a news conference in London. “The timing is of course influenced by the recent announcement of the merger of Price Waterhouse and Coopers & Lybrand.”
KPMG Peat Marwick and Ernst & Young said Friday that they canceled plans to merge and create the world’s largest accounting and consulting firm, acknowledging that regulatory hurdles got in the way.
The cancellation comes a week after the European Commission began an extended antitrust probe of the proposed merger, which would have created a firm with sales of $18.1 billion.
“The regulatory thing was turning into a complete nightmare,” said a senior partner at Ernst & Young, who declined to be named. “When you added it all up, it was just going to take a lot of time, a lot of money and a lot of blood, sweat and tears.”
EC Commissioner Karel Van Miert raised concern that the combination–plus the planned merger of Coopers & Lybrand and Price Waterhouse–would have left businesses with too few choices of accountants. The two transactions would have whittled the so-called Big Six accounting firms to the Big Four.
Talk about a letdown. Two huge accounting firms decide to merge and then two more huge accounting firms in a perfectly reasonable knee jerk reaction decide to merge because WE CAN’T LET THEM GET AWAY WITH THIS. Honestly, I wish it would’ve worked to see what kind of tomfoolery those two would’ve got themselves into.
But what about a mega-merger today? I think it’d be kind of fun to see a couple of firms try it now. Everyone would care about accounting firms for all of five days or until Apple announced a platinum Apple Watch would be made available in 2016 whichever happened first.
It’s never too late to reconsider. Heck, if KPMG can merge with itself many times over then anything’s possible.

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