TORONTO — Arthur Andersen LLP's partners and staff in Canada will join Deloitte & Touche LLP as Andersen continues to lose clients and affiliates because of its work with Enron Corp.
Deloitte & Touche is the world's second-largest accounting firm, after PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
Terms were not disclosed. "We were able to hold our clients in spite of Enron and the value of Andersen's Canadian practice was recognized," said Roy Fraser, a spokesman for Andersen Canada. "Deloitte & Touche is a good strategic fit for us."
Andersen, Enron's auditor for 16 years, is under indictment for allegedly destroying evidence of accounting fraud at the energy trader, which filed the biggest U.S. bankruptcy on Dec. 2. More than 160 U.S. audit clients have dropped Chicago-based Andersen this year. It has lost partners and overseas affiliates and plans to fire as many as 7,000 employees.
The combination with Deloitte & Touche is expected to be completed by early June, Fraser said. It is unclear how many Andersen employees will move to Deloitte & Touche, he said.