Bermuda-registered Accenture, a leading worldwide consulting firm, on Friday set its planned initial public offering at 115 million shares of class A common stock at an estimated price range of $13 to $15 per share.

Formerly known as Andersen Consulting, Accenture could raise as much as $1.7 billion in proceeds from the IPO with a potential market value of $5.9 billion.

An IPO by the management and technology consulting company, which employs 70,000 people in more than 40 countries, would be the second by such a division, or former division, of a Big Five accounting firm. In February rival KPMG Consulting Inc. went public in an offering that raised $2 billion.

Accenture disclosed the details of the IPO for the first time since filing a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in mid-April.

It is seeking to list its shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ACN". It did not say when the IPO will take place.

According to the amended IPO prospectus, partners will control 82 percent of Accenture once it goes public.

The underwriters, led by Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, will have access to 17.25 million more shares in the event of heavy demand.

Once it goes public, there will be more than 394.5 million class A common shares outstanding in the company, including 212.3 million shares held by its partners.

That would giving Accenture a potential initial market capitalisation of $5.9 billion based on a price of $15 a share the high end of the projected price range.

But Accenture said the number of outstanding shares could rise to close to 1 billion shares if its partners decided to exchange their class I common shares into class A shares.

Excluding the number of shares set aside for over-allotments, the IPO could raise as much as $1.7 billion if the shares were to be sold at $15 each.