It will be several days before the local management of the newly merged Ernst & Young accounting firm is named.
Partners of international accounting firms Arthur Young and Ernst & Whinney have approved the merger, and the new company will begin operations Oct. 1. Jay Smith, managing partner of the Salt Lake office of Ernest & Whinney, said the national and regional officers of Ernst & Young have been named, but local officers haven't.The merger results in the nation's largest professional services organization offering accounting and auditing, tax, management and information systems consulting services with 25,000 employees and $2 billion in annual revenue.
In the United States, Ernst & Young will be led by co-chief executives William L. Gladstone, chairman of Arthur Young, and Ray J. Groves, chairman of Ernst and Whinney. William A. Grant and Jesse M. Miles of Arthur Young and Robert J. Kelly and Robert D. Neary of Ernest & Whinney, will be co-chairmen of the new company.
Jerry G. McClain, the local managing partner of Arthur Young, said he was pleased with the merger and sees the move as providing great benefits to clients in Utah with the 140-member staff.
The international councils of both companies endorsed the merger last month, and approval in the United States was the first in a series of votes with partnerships abroad expected to approve the merger in the next few months.