Arthur Andersen Plans to Restructure, Get New CEO

Partners of Arthur Andersen & Co., one of the best known Big Eight accounting companies, voted to restructure the organization and choose a new chief executive, the company announced Friday.

The overhaul is intended to update the 75-year-old firm and better meet its clients’ changing needs, said Duane R. Kullberg, managing partner and chief executive.

Kullberg, 56, is stepping down after nine years at the head of Arthur Andersen, but will remain a partner.

“I think the decision (to choose a new CEO) comes from the fact that we have a new beginning,” Kullberg said. “I think the system needs a new start. It’s time to pass it on to somebody else.”

The first step in the transition will be nominating a new board of 24 partners and choosing a new chief executive, company officials said.

The 2,200 Arthur Andersen partners approved the restructuring at their annual meeting here. The move divides the company into two branches: audit-tax practice and management consulting practice.

“What we’ve done, I think, is to create a new global partnership model for the 21st century, and we think we’ve come there first and I would reasonably expect others would copy,” Kullberg said.

With 231 offices in 49 countries, Arthur Andersen provides accounting, audit, tax, management information consulting and professional education services. The company recorded $2.8 billion in fiscal 1988 revenues.

Company officials said the restructuring plan was devised during the past three months.