NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - KPMG Consulting Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to buy up to 23 independent consulting units, including U.S. operations, from Arthur Andersen's international affiliate for $284 million.

Andersen, which went on trial this week on obstruction of justice charges for its role in shredding Enron documents, intends to sell KPMG Consulting its consulting practices in Europe, the United States, the Asia Pacific region and Latin America, KPMG said.

KPMG Consulting said it is being extremely mindful of any potential Enron-related liability it could be exposed to in acquiring the Andersen businesses.

The 23 units represent most, but not all, of Andersen's consulting business, KPMG Consulting spokesman John Schneidawind said, declining to discuss how the firm will decide which units to acquire. Each transaction will be accretive to earnings within the first 12 months, the company said during a teleconference with analysts Wednesday.

In addition to cash, 6.5 million shares of KPMG Consulting stock will be issued over three years to Andersen partners who join KPMG Consulting, it said.

Company officials said during the teleconference that it already has closed deals on two of the units and that definitive agreements are pending on three others, but did not reveal which Andersen units were involved. KPMG Consulting said it hopes to have definitive agreements on all 23 units in place within the next 30 to 45 days and to close on each by summer.

KPMG Consulting, which already has completed the purchase of Andersen's consulting practices in Hong Kong and China, said the additional 23 units had combined net revenue of $1.4 billion last year.

The firm said acquiring Andersen's units expands its client base to more than 700 leading companies and gives KPMG Consulting a combined global work force of more than 16,000.

In acquiring each unit, KPMG Consulting said it is looking for clean balance sheets and that 90 percent of the partners are required to participate.

Wednesday evening Andersen announced 2,000 employees, including nearly 200 partners, will join Deloitte & Touche and also said it has completed the deal for Ernst & Young to buy its Pittsburgh tax and audit operations.

The 2,000 employees will join Deloitte offices across the country.

Andersen said it the moves are "consistent with the firm's plan to move forward as a smaller and different firm aligned with the reforms we have outlined and the smaller scale of our client base."

Chicago-based Andersen has been losing clients since the Justice Department indicted it for obstructing justice in destroying Enron-related documents while on notice of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation. Andersen acted as Enron's auditor for 16 years before it was fired in January.

Enron is accused of using thousands of questionable partnerships to hide nearly $1 billion in debt and inflate profits. In December, the Houston-based energy trader filed the largest bankruptcy ever.

KPMG Consulting (KCIN: Research, Estimates) shares fell 63 cents to $15.05 Tuesday.

In a separate announcement, KPMG Vietnam Ltd., a unit of KPMG International, an accounting business separate from KPMG Consulting, said it expects to complete the acquisition of Andersen Vietnam Ltd., a unit of Andersen's own separate accounting business, before June.

A joint statement from KPMG Vietnam and Andersen Vietnam said they were in final discussions to combine their businesses through an acquisition by the KPMG unit.

It said the transaction is subject to a final memorandum of understanding, executing a definitive agreement, and necessary government approvals.  

-- Reuters contributed to this report