Adelphia Appoints PwC to Succeed D&T as Auditor: Troubled cable concern and Philadelphia-based Adelphia Communications, which just fired auditor Deloitte & Touche, said it hired Big Five rival PricewaterhouseCoopers as its audit successor.
Adelphia, dismissed D&T after claiming that the firm’s audits had failed to detect off-the-books loans to Adelphia founders, the Rigas family and debt, which totaled about $3 billion.
The company said PwC would immediately prepare the company’s 2001 annual report, which is several weeks overdue. As a result of failing to file its annual report on time, Adelphia was delisted from the Nasdaq.
VISX Taps KPMG as Auditor: The board of laser technology company VISX Inc., based in Santa Clara, Calif., voted to appoint Big Five firm KPMG as its new external auditor and to dismiss incumbent auditor Andersen.
The company said the decision to jettison Andersen wasn’t based on any disagreement with the firm on matters of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, auditing scope or procedures.
KPMG also was hired as auditor for TiVo Inc. for the year ending Jan. 31, 2003, replacing Andersen, which was dismissed last month.
TiVo, which reported no disagreements with Andersen on accounting principles, offers PVR and subscription-based television services.
BancFirst Corp. Names E&Y as Auditor: BancFirst Corp. appointed Big Five firm Ernst & Young LLP. as its new independent auditor.
Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company said it switched auditors because the Oklahoma City office of its former auditor, Andersen, had been acquired by the local office of Ernst & Young.
"There was a level of continuity to it," BancFirst Chief Financial Officer Joe T. Shockley said. "We felt very comfortable with the quality of staff and principals they had working with us."
Many of the Andersen staff who worked on the BancFirst Corp. audit are now working at Ernst & Young. Andersen had served as auditors to the company since 1999.
Form 8-K Filings
Airxcel Inc. (Wichita, Kan.), from PricewaterhouseCoopers to Ernst & Young.
Applied Digital Solutions Inc. (Palm Beach, Fla.), from Grant Thornton to Eisner.
Artificial Life Inc. (New York), from Wolf & Co. to Horwath Gelfond Hochstadt Pangburn.
Butler Manufacturing Co. (Kansas City, Mo.), from Andersen to KPMG.
Cabot Industrial Properties (Chicago), from Andersen to Deloitte & Touche.
Capital Development Group Inc. (Miami), from Squar, Milner, Reehl & Williamson to Garcia, Espinosa, Miyares & Co.
Cardinal Health Inc. (Dublin, Ohio), from Andersen to Ernst & Young.
CD Warehouse Inc. (Oklahoma City, Okla.), from Ernst & Young to Steakley Gibet & Morgan.
Donnelly Corp. (Holland, Mich.), from BDO Seidman to Pricewaterhouse
Coopers.
ELocity Networks Corp. (Coronado, Calif.), from Bobbitt Pittenger & Co. to Jones Simkins.
Exus Networks Inc. (New York), from BDO Seidman to Feldman Sherb & Co.
First Horizon Pharmaceutical Corp. (Alpharetta, Ga.), from Andersen to Deloitte & Touche.
Fred’s Inc. (Memphis, Tenn.), from PricewaterhouseCoopers to Ernst & Young.
Global Payments Inc. (Atlanta), from Andersen to Deloitte & Touche.
Hienergy Technologies Inc. (Irvine, Calif.), from Manning Elliott to Singer Lewak Greenbaum & Goldstein.
Hudson United Bancorp (Mahwah, N.J.), from Andersen to Ernst & Young.
Intellicorp Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.), from Ernst & Young to Moss Adams.
International Lottery & Totalizator Systems Inc. (Carlsbad, Calif.), from Andersen to Grant Thornton.
Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc. (Hampstead, Md.), from Andersen to KPMG.
K-Tronik International Corp. (Hackensack, N.J.), from Labonte & Co. to BDO Seidman.
MGM Mirage (Las Vegas), from Andersen to Deloitte & Touche.
Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (Milwaukee), from Andersen to Deloitte & Touche.
North American Technologies Group Inc. (Houston), from BDO Seidman to Mann Frankfort Stein & Lipp.
Quinton Cardiology Systems Inc. (Bothell, Wash.), from Andersen to KPMG.
Southwest Gas Corp. (Las Vegas), from Andersen to Pricewaterhouse
Coopers.
Swiss Army Brands Inc. (Shelton, Conn.), from Andersen to KPMG.
Transaction System Architects Inc. (Omaha, Neb.), from Andersen to KPMG.
Zenascent Inc. (Southampton, N.Y.), from Wolinetz, Lafazan & Co. to BDO Seidman.
