Does anyone know why companies like Deloitte, E&Y, KPMG and PWC have not floated on the stock market? I understand that there are pros and cons of staying private versus going public but surely a floatation is worth considering?

Your question is slight wrong as the emphasis should not be on being private but on the LLP status.To answer your query:1. The opposite is true. At any one point in time the firms you mention are being sued, compensation can in some circumstances be capped or limited, not so easy as a plc.2. There are legal requirements with regards to their independence from clients (eg. say Barclays is audited by PwC and also has a 20% s/h in PwC...)3. What do they need to raise capital for? 4. Service firms are rarely if ever listed, the business model is not suited for it. The capital is human and knowledge based (hear hear)5. Auditing brings in some 50% of revenues, you could never be a listed auditorhope that makes sense

Your question is slight wrong as the emphasis should not be on being private but on the LLP status.To answer your query:1. The opposite is true. At any one point in time the firms you mention are being sued, compensation can in some circumstances be capped or limited, not so easy as a plc.2. There are legal requirements with regards to their independence from clients (eg. say Barclays is audited by PwC and also has a 20% s/h in PwC...)3. What do they need to raise capital for? 4. Service firms are rarely if ever listed, the business model is not suited for it. The capital is human and knowledge based (hear hear)5. Auditing brings in some 50% of revenues, you could never be a listed auditorhope that makes sense

Surely the firms mentioned could float their consulting division. Is that not what Accenture is? A listed consulting company.

Hardly suit the partners would it. No shareholder would stand for 10% of the staff paying themselves 5-20 times as much as the remaining 90% and more than most C-level execs despite their relatively modest management responsibilities.

Oh really? Isn't that what Goldman Sachs do?

Goldman Sachs.Diamond Mynes.Munny Bags.Briefcase O'Cash.

Hardly suit the partners would it. No shareholder would stand for 10% of the staff paying themselves 5-20 times as much as the remaining 90%....Surely the partners just get round the issue above by giving themeselves plenty of shares? Perhaps I cannot see the whole picture but I still am not convinced of why a listing should not be on the cards for the Consulting arm of the Big 4.