Andersen Global, the international network founded by a group of former partners from Arthur Andersen, unveiled a global valuation practice Wednesday.
The San Francisco-based firm said the new valuation practice would span over 20 countries across Europe, Latin America, Asia and North America.
Andersen's initial focus has been to expand its valuation service in Europe and Latin America. In addition to the U.S., it has established a presence in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Finland, France, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Switzerland and the U.K.
"We are in various discussions going in about 14 countries," said Andersen Global chairman and CEO Mark Vorsatz. "We believe that we will add five more countries this year. Our goal is to build a broad platform similar to our existing practice (we are in 175 countries) with capabilities in 50 to 60 countries that can provide comprehensive geographic coverage."
He hopes to rival Kroll, whose valuation practice spans approximately 32 countries.
There are agreements signed in other geographic markets that have not yet been announced but will be in the coming months, according to a spokesperson.
Andersen has been expanding across the U.S. and other parts of the world since the firm name was
Much of the expansion globally has occurred in tax and legal services, but the firm has avoided getting into the audit area that led to the demise of the original Arthur Andersen after accounting scandals involving clients like Enron and WorldCom in the early 2000s.
Valuation is a service that some members of its network have been offering, especially in the U.S., and now it will become more of a global service.
"Tax, legal and valuation are intricately related, yet no other professional services firm offers all of these capabilities on a global scale under one roof," Vorsatz said in a statement Wednesday. "Our vision at Andersen is to create a platform where clients can have a seamless experience working with one multidisciplinary firm they can trust, anywhere in the world. We're aiming to become one of the largest independent valuation firms in the world within the next few years."
The network's new global valuation practice is led by managing director Sid Luckenbach, who has been national leader for Andersen's valuation offering in the U.S. for the past 18 years.
"Business structures and financial instruments are becoming more complex," Luckenbach said in a statement. "It gets even more complicated when you're dealing with cross-border and multijurisdictional transactions. That's why the traditional approach is no longer sufficient. Our global valuation practice brings together deep expertise and the geographic reach that clients need, regardless of where their assets are located."
Andersen Global currently counts more than 14,000 professionals across the world in over 400 locations.
