Local Arthur Andersen
office set to break free
from parent next month

The new firm will be Karns,
Murakami and Hanashiro LLP

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By Dave Segal
dsegal@starbulletin.com

Arthur Andersen LLP's lone Hawaii office is about to leave the nest.

Partners at the accounting firm, finalizing two months of purchase negotiations with the beleaguered parent company, are preparing to venture out on their own next month under a new name. But a formal announcement due Monday has been delayed, according to partner Ross Murakami.

"We're at the eleventh hour here," Murakami said. "We're prepared to launch. We've got all our people in place. We've got all our clients in place. We're just waiting to work out the final details with the firm."

The new firm, which will be called Karns, Murakami and Hanashiro LLP, will remain at 737 Bishop St., Suite 2900.

"We needed to do this so we're out of the Andersen network," said Murakami, who declined to reveal the purchase price. "But we're still looking at a number of different options (that involve merging with another Hawaii accounting firm)."

The name of the new firm, which is comprised of current Andersen partners Murakami and Randy Karns, also will include Peter Hanashiro, who has been with the Hawaii office for 14 years and had been on track to become a partner this year.

Murakami, who said the company's remaining 45 employees will be retained, called support from his current staff and from clients "outstanding."

"Big chunks (of the parent company) already have been sold or are in the process of being transferred to direct competitors or other consulting firms," Murakami said.