AICPA To Restructure Professional Development Unit and Acquire PDI Division.

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 1999--The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has announced that it will restructure its professional development unit and acquire the accounting and financial management education arm of Professional Development Institute (PDI), Inc., one of the nation's largest providers of continuing professional education (CPE) courses.

According to a letter of intent signed by both organizations, the AICPA will purchase the PDI unit and will operate its CPE activities from Denton, Texas, PDI's current location. Dr. Paden Neeley, president of PDI, will be appointed AICPA Vice President - CPE Group Study. He will report to Chuck Peck, Senior Vice President - Marketing, Product and Organizational Development. Other PDI senior staff joining the AICPA are Pam Wilhoite, who will be responsible for group study and state society relations, and Susan Longo, who will be responsible for product development.

"This is a very significant step for us," said Barry C. Melancon, AICPA President and CEO. "Continuing education has always been an essential mission of the Institute, and the acquisition of PDI will enable us to strengthen our course lines. For more than a quarter of a century, PDI has enjoyed profession-wide esteem for the high quality of its products and service. We're looking forward to having Paden and his staff as members of the AICPA team."

Melancon enumerated the benefits to customers. "As a result of this acquisition, we'll be able to provide a single point of contact for state society customers," he said. "We'll enhance our CPE ordering, billing and customer service systems. We'll also provide direct sales to public accounting firms and corporate accounting departments for their in-house training programs."

Once the $1 million PDI acquisition is completed, the AICPA will relocate a large part of its CPE operations to PDI's offices in Texas. The CPE self-study and conference marketing group, under Kirk Drussel, Senior Marketing Manager - Professional Development, and the conferences development unit, under Rachel Dichter, Senior Manager - Conferences Development, will remain in the Institute's New York and New Jersey locations.

The AICPA is also restructuring its printing operations. Most printing will be contracted out to create a print-on-demand capability.

Melancon said that the PDI acquisition and internal restructuring will affect approximately 50 positions. "We'll attempt to place affected employees elsewhere in the Institute, if practicable," he said. "Employees who aren't reassigned will receive appropriate termination packages."

The acquisition of the PDI unit would be the most recent in a series of aggressive moves by the Institute to fortify its CPE curriculum to better serve its members. Earlier this month, the AICPA announced the spring launch of interactive on-line courses in collaboration with Princeton Learning Systems. In December, the Institute purchased the Seminar Business series of professional education courses from Practitioners Publishing Co., a division of Research Institute of America Group.

"We're always looking for opportunities to help our members compete more effectively in a deregulated financial services arena," said Peck. "It's critical to our Vision process, through which we're repositioning the CPA's role in the business community."

Neeley, who also serves on the accounting faculty at the University of North Texas, pointed out that the AICPA and PDI have had a long relationship. "PDI began working with the Institute in 1978, when we co-sponsored a successful series of petroleum industry accounting and tax courses. Our philosophies toward professional development and performance improvement are similar, so it makes sense for us to join forces to offer certified public accountants the best in CPE."

The AICPA (www.aicpa.org) is the national professional organization of CPAs with more than 330,000 members in business and industry, public practice, government, and education. The AICPA is the first national professional membership organization to be ISO 9001 certified, in recognition of its quality management and assurance practices.