New York (Reuters) – Adelphia Communications Corp. is expected to name PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP [PWC.UL] its new auditor as its board readies for a weekend meeting where it may decide to put the troubled cable company under bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.
Adelphia and PWC sources were not immediately available for comment. Adelphia, the U.S. No. 6 cable company, fired Deloitte & Touche as its auditor and is widely expected to file for Chapter 11.
In a move signaling its bankruptcy filing may be imminent, sources told Reuters on Thursday that Adelphia had asked banks for debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing for $1.5 billion. DIP financing is designed to keep a company solvent while it works to restructure under bankruptcy court protection.
The Journal said that PWC is already familiar with Adelphia and is working with the company's audit committee, which is conducting an investigation into dealings between Adelphia and its founding Rigas family.
The company has been battered by a constant stream of damaging news in recent weeks, including Monday's revelation that it had overstated cash flow by nearly 15 percent for each of the last two years and inflated its subscriber accounts.
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