Talk of a merger between PricewaterhouseCoopers and the newly-unwed Andersen Consulting has been roundly condemned by the consultancy firm.

Consulting was not in merger talks with anyone, a spokesperson confirmed, after reports that the two were holding discussions.

Now that Andersen Consulting is free of Arthur Andersen's grasp, the rumor mill has been grinding with a variety of predictions and fantasies.

In London, the Sunday Times believes the firm is to go ahead with a $15bn flotation, creating over 2,500 multi-millionaires at the partner-owned firm, and so boosting a publicity drive when the firm loses its right to the Andersen Consulting name at the end of the year.

But Consulting would only say that the firm is looking at a variety of different ownership structures, and that an announcement would be made in due course.

A spokesperson for PwC said that, as with all previous suppositions about the future of the Big Five firm, it would not comment on rumors.