Andersen Global makes a comeback
The SA big five accounting firm that sank with its US parent in the wake on Enron’s collapse is back – as a tax and legal firm
Nearly two decades after closing shop in SA, Andersen Global is testing the market again by partnering with local law firm Tabacks. But the global firm is a whole different animal. In its earlier iteration Andersen still had a first name — Arthur, as in Arthur Andersen. And gone is the auditing practice that caused the entire business to implode in the wake of the Enron scandal. Andersen is now a tax and legal business, and the move is part of a worldwide expansion strategy that has taken it into 47 countries by either getting local firms to collaborate with it or choosing a much closer integration by taking them on board as full "members". In the case of Tabacks, a firm that has its roots in the many mining mergers & acquisitions (M&A) of the commodity supercycle in the early 2000s, the deal is a collaboration. The step plugs the local firm into Andersen’s worldwide network while, at least for now, retaining its own brand. And for Tabacks the deal is just what it needs to fit into ...
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