KPMG Sh(r)eds Andersen Liabilities With Mass Hire Plan

from the it's-all-about-the-loopholes dept

theodp writes "Infoworld reports KPMG Consulting has decided to hire en masse the staff of Arthur Andersen's business and IT consulting unit, agreeing to pay $63 million to acquire about 1,400 employees, including 140 partners, from Arthur Andersen's business consulting unit, but not the unit itself. Analysts wrote, 'The primary rationale for structuring the transaction as a group hire is to effectively shield KPMG [Consulting] from any of Andersen's legal liabilities. As such, KPMG is not buying any Andersen assets or liabilities.'" It's a sneaky little loophole, and these firms are nothing if not for their knowledge of loopholes. Anyway, the report says that the partners are released from their non-competes by this deal, but I don't see why that would be true. I also wonder if KPMG is still open to lawsuits from folks who see through the loophole and decide to bring them to court anyway. Instead of just suing Andersen, they could sue the specific partners as well, which could put KPMG on the hook.

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