Aston Martin Lagonda, the luxury car-maker, has kicked off the search for a new auditor less than three months after making a £4bn stock market debut.
Sky News has learnt that Aston Martin, which has seen its shares fall sharply since listing in October, has begun contacting accountancy firms about replacing KPMG in the coming months.
The move is an unusual one for a company so soon after an initial public offering (IPO) and comes at the beginning of a critical year for Britain’s accountancy profession as it confronts a string of profound structural changes.
The intention to put Aston Martin’s audit contract out to tender was highlighted in its IPO prospectus last autumn but has not previously been reported.
KPMG has undertaken the role since 2007 and has declined an invitation to re-pitch for the work, according to a person close to Aston Martin.
The hunt for a new auditor has been triggered solely for corporate governance reasons and does not reflect any dissatisfaction with KPMG’s work, the person added.
Richard Solomons, former InterContinental Hotels Group chief executive who chairs Aston Martin’s audit committee, will play a key role in selecting KPMG’s replacement.
The change will be among the first to take place since the Competition and Markets Authority said it would seek to overhaul the audit sector by forcing large companies to employ a second auditor.
The proposal, which is subject to consultation, is designed to help audit firms outside the “big four” grow their market share and make the industry more competitive.
There is scepticism, however, that smaller auditors are equipped to handle the scrutiny of the books of large multinational companies.
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Vodafone, which is parting ways with PricewaterhouseCoopers because of a potential conflict of interest relating to the administration of Phones 4U, the mobile phone retailer, is among the FTSE-100 companies planning to tender their audit contracts this year.
An Aston Martin spokesman declined to comment on Wednesday.