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PwC Consulting adopts a new name

The company says it is renaming itself "Monday" to try to distance itself from parent PricewaterhouseCoopers as it gears up for an initial public offering.

2 min read
Consulting firm PwC Consulting said it was renaming itself "Monday" to try to distance itself from parent PricewaterhouseCoopers as it gears up for an initial public offering.

PwC Consulting will adopt the unusual name after its separation from the accounting firm is completed following its IPO later this year.

"The PricewaterhouseCoopers brand has given us a great heritage," Greg Brenneman, president and chief executive officer of PwC Consulting, said in a statement.

"Our new name--Monday--is exactly what we want it to be as we create our new business: a real word, concise, recognizable, global, and the right fit for a company that works hard to deliver results."

The consulting firm appointed Brenneman, a former Continental Airlines president, as its new chief executive last Sunday. It also named Dun & Bradstreet veteran Frank Sowinski as its new chief financial officer Thursday.

PwC Consulting filed for an IPO for as much as $1 billion earlier in May as pressure mounted on accounting firms to separate their auditing and consulting practices to quell concerns over potential conflicts of interest.

The accounting industry has come under attack after the Enron scandal as critics questioned whether an accounting firm's independence was compromised by accepting large consulting fees from the clients it audited. In March, KPMG Consulting said it would change its name to distinguish itself from its parent KPMG LLP, the audit and tax firm.

The Enron scandal was a factor in the decision to rename the company, KPMG Consulting said at the time.

Rival Accenture also changed its name from Andersen Consulting after splitting from sister firm Arthur Andersen in 2000, though for different reasons.

Accenture, which held a contest among its employees to pick its new name, lost the legal rights to the then prestigious Andersen brand name after its separation.

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