NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Arthur Andersen LLP, which has lost more than 100 audit clients this year, is also seeing companies distance themselves from the accounting firm as they move to go public.

Chicago-based Andersen was once a leading adviser to companies launching initial public offerings. In 2001, PricewaterhouseCoopers emerged as the top adviser on IPO, snagging 23 new issues.

Ernst & Young came in second with 20, Deloitte & Touche placed third with 4 IPOs, while Andersen ranked fourth for serving as advisor on 12 new issues. KPMG placed last of the Big 5 firms, with 10 new issues, according to data from Dealogic, a New York-based investment banking research firm.

But times could get worse for Andersen, which is now fighting a federal indictment.

"Andersen's name has disappeared off the pages of new filings," said John Fitzgibbon, editor of IPO Desktop.

On March 14, the Justice Department hit Andersen with a one-count federal indictment for allegedly obstructing justice when it shredded Enron Corp. documents. Andersen, as Enron's auditor for 16 years, signed off on the energy trader's statements. Enron allegedly used off-the-book partnerships to inflate profits and hide nearly $1 billion in debt.

Andersen has lost more than 100 public audit clients this year. More than half of the 100 fired Andersen after the March 14 indictment, said Art Bowman, editor of Bowman's Accounting Report.

The effect of the criminal charge is expected to take its toll on Andersen's IPO clients. Andersen appears as the auditor of nine companies that have filed to go public this year, according to data from IPO.com.

"Visibility and image are everything when you going public," said Alert-IPO.com's Ostman. "It wouldn't surprise me if companies start looking at different auditors."

Two companies -- Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd. and Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC -- launched their IPOs before the March indictment.

But the other seven IPOs which are using Andersen have yet to go public. Inveresk Research Group Inc. is the first to file for an IPO and use Andersen since the March 14 indictment.

Cary, N.C-based Inveresk, which plans to raise as much as $150 million via Bear Stearns, could be signaling how it will handle its relationship with Andersen.

In its filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Company, Inveresk listed Andersen under its "Risk Factors" section of the IPO.

Inveresk, a provider of drug research services to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, said its access to the capital markets could be impaired if the SEC refuses to accept financial statements signed off by Andersen.

Andersen could also become unable to represent the company or fail to perform audit-related services in a timely manner, Inveresk said in its filing with the SEC.

"In such case, we would promptly seek to engage new independent auditors, but such actions could be disruptive to our operations and affect the price and liquidity of our securities," Inveresk said.

Certain investors, including fund and institutional investors, could opt not to hold or invest in a company that does not have current financial reports available, Inveresk said.

"Inveresk is correct to disclose this," said Corey Ostman, co-CEO of Alert-IPO.com. "People don't know where Andersen will end up at."

But analysts do not think that having Andersen as an auditor will affect the performance of any offering. The choice of auditor "is not something you judge an IPO on," Ostman said.

"It probably won't affect an IPO if it did use Andersen," added IPO Desktop's Fitzgibbon.