Accounting giant PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) could this week file an initial public offering in the United States of up to $9 billion for its consulting division, sources say.
PWC partners in the US and Britain voted on Friday to proceed with the IPO on the New York Stock Exchange - a major step forward in its plan for what will be by far the largest IPO on Wall Street so far this year.
Votes continue to be counted for smaller territories, but those partners are expected to approve the deal, allowing a filing as early as this week, sources said.
The final value of the deal could change, but sources said it could be as high as $9 billion, which could more than double the value of the largest IPO to date this year - the $4.3 billion sale of Citigroup's Travellers Property Casualty.
The move will create a separate publicly traded company out of PWC Consulting, an industry giant with 33,500 employees and $6.7 billion in fiscal 2001 revenue. Morgan Stanley is the lead underwriter for the offering, the sources said.
Company spokespeople declined to comment on the company's plans, citing SEC regulations.
The move comes as the accounting industry has been rocked by charges of conflicts of interest after the collapse of Enron, an event that proved hugely damaging to its auditor and consultant, Andersen.
PWC said in January that Andersen's travails and Congressional scrutiny over accounting industry conflicts spurred its decision to separate its consulting division.