ACCOUNTING: The Big Eight, Seven, Six . . .

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Like nervous bachelors worried they may never find a mate, many of the Big Eight accounting firms in the U.S. have begun stampeding to the altar. Last week Deloitte, Haskins & Sells and Touche Ross announced that they had agreed to join forces as Deloitte & Touche (total revenues: $3.9 billion). Earlier the same day Arthur Andersen and Price Waterhouse revealed that they too have begun negotiating a merger that would produce a $4.9 billion firm. The announcements followed a decision by Ernst & Whinney and Arthur Young in June to consummate their own $4.3 billion corporate marriage.

The passion to merge has been fueled by the desire of major firms to become global competitors. "The cost of doing business is much greater today than it was 15 years ago," says William Grollman, professor of accounting at Fordham University's Graduate School of Business. "Mergers reduce these costs and eliminate a competitor."