PWC and Grant Thornton Confirm Merger Talks

The Wall Street Journal confirmed that PricewaterhouseCoopers [1] and Grant Thornton [2] held merger talks earlier this summer, but jointly decided not to pursue anything at this time.

PWC, the world's biggest accounting and consulting firm, was interested in #8 Grant Thornton predominantly for access to its list of 340 publicly traded clients, according to the Journal.

While talks were cut off because of financial issues as well as a lack of synergy between the firms, spokesmen for both parties indicate that talks could resume again. "Never say never," says David Nestor, a spokesman for PWC.