Ernst & Young has emerged victorious in the battle to land one of the most lucrative audit gigs in the City.
It will be the new auditor for telecoms giant Vodafone PLC (LON:VOD), which put three of the ‘Big Four’ – EY, KPMG and Deloitte – on red alert at the end of last year after announcing it was on the lookout for a new firm to oversee its books.
PricewaterhouseCoopers, the other member of the ‘Big Four’ accountants, has audited Vodafone’s books since 2014 and was paid £21mln last year for providing its services.
READ: Vodafone to part ways with PwC
PwC will cast its eye over the numbers again for the current year ending in March but EY will take on the responsibility from next year.
Vodafone’s decision to part ways with PwC comes amid a legal spat with Phones4U, the high street retailer which collapsed four years ago after Vodafone and some of its rivals cancelled their distribution contracts.
PwC is acting as Phones4U’s administrator and earlier this week confirmed it would be taking Vodafone and a handful of others to court as part of that role. Those claims could run into hundreds of millions of pounds, according to some reports.
Vodafone bosses had said this might “give risks to audit independence” further down the line.
“We thank PricewaterhouseCoopers for their significant contribution as Vodafone's auditors over recent years and we look forward to working with Ernst & Young,” said David Nish, chairman of the Vodafone audit and risk committee.
Vodafone shares edged 0.5% to 140.4p in early deals on Friday.