Apparently Some Stimulus Funds Will Buy Cocaine for Monkeys

Last Friday we learned that Marcum and Stonefield Josephson were now super-accounting friends. The MarcumStonefield deal was just the latest combinatio in what has been a busy year for consolidation by CPA firms.

Eisner and Amper joined forces, as did Weiser and Mazars while RubinBrown and Wipfli among others have also been active.

With our interest piqued, we did some digging and discovered a rumor of another merger, this time between WeiserMazars and New York-based Marks Paneth & Shron.

A source with knowledge of the discussions told GC that MP&S has been looking for various buyout options, including discussing a possible merger with Eisner earlier this year. When it was clear that the EisnerAmper deal was happening MP&S started looking for other options, which included WeiserMazars.

Our source indicated that the deal was very close to being finalized saying that it “sounded like” MP&S’s management committee had approved the deal.

We checked in with both firms to find out the latest on the situation and discovered from an MP&S spokesperson that the deal wasn’t happening. Officially, this is what the firm had to say:

It’s our policy not to comment on specific discussions. In general, we can say that we are always looking for approaches that will enable us to anticipate and serve the evolving needs of our highly valued and sophisticated client base — and also allow us to provide new opportunities and challenges to our people. Occasionally that means exploring partnerships, collaboration and even mergers with other best-of-breed organizations with complementary capabilities, expertise and values. However, no such discussions are currently in progress.

A short time we heard back from Doug Phillips, the Managing Partner at WeiserMazars who provided us with this statement through a spokesperson:

After much serious and detailed discussion, the managements of WeiserMazars LLP and Marks Paneth & Shron LLP have concluded that we cannot agree on a set of merger terms that we are prepared to submit to the partners of each firm to vote on. We have therefore concluded our discussions for the time being.

We continue to have the greatest respect for Marks Paneth & Shron and its partners. A combination is just not the right move for both firms at this time.

So there you have it. There was little wining and dining but ultimately it wasn’t love. That being said, it sounds like both firms are on the hunt, so we’ll keep our ears open. If you have information or hear rumors of any potential merger, email us at tips@goingconcern.com with the scoop.