A partial privatisation is being considered at Andersen Consulting that would mean windfall profits for the firm's Irish partners. Andersen Consulting is the Republic's largest management and information technology firm and is part of the global consulting organisation. Its 2,500 partners agreed to examine the feasibility of selling off part of the business last week at a global meeting in Miami. The meeting is expected to reconvene to reach a final decision in the spring. The move follows a recent ruling which allowed Andersen Consulting to separate formally from the Andersen Worldwide organisation.

The Andersen group, which includes the consultancy arm, reported revenues of $8.9 billion (£8.3 billion) in the current year. Industry sources suggest the consultancy firm would be valued at between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. Andersen Consulting employs 350 people in the Republic providing services to major Irish companies as well as various Government departments and agencies. Its managing partner in Ireland, Mr Leo Blennerhassett, said yesterday it was too early to say what proportion of the business may be privatised and the financial implications for the Irish partners and staff.

The partners have agreed to proceed with the analytical, legal, financial, regulatory and other work necessary to give them an understanding of a partial public offering option. "We have agreed to start a process to examine what structures are required for a partial public offering and a final decision is likely to be taken next spring," Mr Blennerhassett said. Andersen Consulting's Irish operation has eight partners and this will rise to 13 by the end of the year with the promotion of five more. The firm employs 65,000 people in 48 countries. The move comes shortly after the sale of KPMG's Irish consulting firm to the US KCI group for an estimated $40.3 million (£37.6 million) with the bulk of the proceeds being shared among its 43 partners.

KCI is funding the acquisition by offering 4.6 million shares to KPMG when it receives a stock market listing. When the deal was agreed, its shares were trading at $8.75, although in the current volatility their actual value may be lower when the listing is completed in the coming weeks.

KPMG consulting was established in 1975 and employs 160 people in Ireland.