The Eide Bailly and Wipfli Merger Is Off

Posted on by Caleb Newquist

There will only be EB Wipfli in your dreams. We were just forwarded an email that Eide Bailly CEO Jerry Topp sent to the firm announcing that the deal is no longer happening.

From: Jerry Topp 
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 12:34 PM
To: ~!All Users
Subject: Important Merger Update
Importance: High
 
I have some significant news to share with you today. The management teams of both Eide Bailly and Wipfli have decided to discontinue merger discussions because we could not come to agreement on key terms. The decision not to proceed with the merger was mutual and amicable.  Both firms will continue forward as independent CPA firms.
 
The partners were briefed earlier.  We will shortly begin the process of notifying clients.  Later this afternoon, we will issue a joint press release with Wipfli.  We’re keeping this story brief and to the point.  Please help us stay on message.  Remember that anything you send by e-mail can wind up in the press.  So, if it’s important that you share this information with colleagues or clients, send them the attached press release.
 
When we started this process I stated, “We do not have to do this deal, however it is an opportunity we feel we need to explore.”  We have done that and have decided to take a pass.  We will learn from this, make changes to our Firm and continue on with the strong “Eide Bailly” brand we have created.
 
We are in the heart of our busy season and we certainly don’t want to distract you from client service. Our plan is to quickly communicate this in an appropriate manner, so we can move on with “business as usual.”
 
If you have any questions, please talk to your PIC. If you are contacted by someone from the media, please direct them to Liz Stabenow in communications.  Wipfli is advising its partners and staff to follow the same protocol.
 
With this shift in focus, I look forward to redirecting our strategies and continuing to build the great firm that we have.
 
Jerry
I was able to confirm this with another source who sent me the exact same email as well as a draft of a press release from the two firms that will be put out later today. I say "draft" because I was told that the media contacts' names were not supposed to be on it but as you can see…yep. Anyway, it states that the firms couldn't agree on "key terms," which could be anything including the EB partner who was taking one in the plums or perhaps Eide Bailly's Petters problem. It's all pretty strange because everyone seemed excited last month when they made the announcement but now no one is talking. The Wipfli represenative won't go on the record, one Eide Bailly rep isn't answering her phone while the other is out of the office until Monday. Seems convenient. I left a message with EB's Director of Business Development, and also Mr. Topp and neither of them have called me back. I did manage to get Wipfli Managing Partner Rick Dreher who told me to "wait until later in the day," which I told him wasn't going to happen, to which he responded, "you go with whatever then," which is obviously what I've done.
 
Soooo, the deal's off and that's probably unfortunate for some but there's at least one happy EB partner out there. If you've got any insight on the "key terms" or other suspicions, feel free to wildly speculate below or get in touch. 

Eide Bailly Wipfli News Release

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What’s the Deal with These Bush Tax Cuts Expiring?

Good question, you say? If you mosey around the web for a nanosecond, you’re likely to run into an article that is debating whether or not the 43rd President’s tax cuts from 2001 and 2003 should be continued. Since Nancy Pelosi is determined to get a vote on this pre-election day, the political rhetoric on this issue is flowing like a river of sewage you dare not dream of.

To help you make sense of it all, we perused some of the tax wonkiest corners of the web to bring you some perspective. And of course, some less bright observations.


• The Tax Foundation has a breakdown of how the expiration of the tax cuts would affect “Average Middle-Income Family, by State and Congressional District.” It’s simple to find your state/district to see the effect that the expiration of the cuts would have on you.

• Over at the Journal, Washington Wire presents the biggest winners and losers from the tax cuts being extended:

Among the states that would save the most from extending the tax cuts, according to a draft of the study: Alaska ($1,959 per family); Connecticut ($1,903); Maryland ($1,756); Massachusetts ($1,831); New Jersey ($1,860) and Utah ($1,779). The lowest savings for middle-income families would be in D.C. ($1,237); West Virginia ($1,316); and Mississippi ($1,355).

• Apparently Alan Greenspan still has a shred of credibility left because he weighed in a couple of weeks ago, telling Bloomberg, “I should say they should follow the law and let them lapse.”

• The Beard doesn’t agree with his predecessor, telling the House Financial Services Committee, “In the short term I would believe that we ought to maintain a reasonable degree of fiscal support, stimulus for the economy. There are many ways to do that. This is one way.”

• William G. Gale, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and co-director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, wrote in the Washington Post about five myths around the tax cuts, including their affect on small businesses:

One of the most common objections to letting the cuts expire for those in the highest tax brackets is that it would hurt small businesses. As Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) recently put it, allowing the cuts to lapse would amount to “a job-killing tax hike on small business during tough economic times.”

This claim is misleading. If, as proposed, the Bush tax cuts are allowed to expire for the highest earners, the vast majority of small businesses will be unaffected. Less than 2 percent of tax returns reporting small-business income are filed by taxpayers in the top two income brackets — individuals earning more than about $170,000 a year and families earning more than about $210,000 a year.

• Derek Thompson is a little more pragmatic than most, arguing that President Obama should extend them for a year in order to buy some time to work on comprehensive tax reform:

The president should extend the Bush tax cuts — yes, the whole dang thing — for a year to temporarily silence his critics. Then he should use 2011 to knock it down and build a tax system that’s right for the next decade. Working off a bipartisan plan, real tax reform would simplify the income brackets and eliminate the multitude of deductions and exemptions that distort the economy with bad incentives and leave hundreds of billions of dollars on the ground.

• Fred Thompson (no relation that we know of) is using his camera moxie to voice his support for the extension of the cuts:

• Ezra Klein agrees that some cuts will be extended temporarily, although the debate among citizens isn’t as clear:

The cuts for the rich are likely to be extended for at least two years. The cuts for the middle class are sure to be extended for even longer than that. Total cost to the deficit over the next 10 years? More than $3 trillion, and maybe more than $4 trillion.

But according to a Pew poll, the American public isn’t as sure about this as the politicians are. A slight plurality — 31 percent — want all the tax cuts repealed. Thirty percent want the cuts for the rich extended. In other words, opinion is divided.

• And even though she needed crib notes, Sarah Palin managed to tell Fox News’ Chris Wallace that letting the cuts expire ‘idiotic’:

“[Obama’s] commitment to let previous tax cuts expire are going to lead to even fewer job opportunities for Americans,” Palin said. “It’s idiotic to think about increasing taxes at a time like this.”

“My palm isn’t large enough to have written all my notes down on what this tax increase, what it will result in,” Palin continued.

Host Chris Wallace noticed that Palin did indeed have something written on her palm. “Can I ask you, what do you have written on your hand?” he asked.

“$3.8 trillion in the next 10 years,” Palin responded, “so I didn’t say $3.7 trillion and then get dinged by the liberals saying I didn’t know what I was talking about.”

But who would ever get the idea that Sarah Palin didn’t know what she was talking about?

Layoff Watch ’10: Grant Thornton’s Cleveland Office Starts Early

From Casa de Chipman:

A manager, a senior III, and senior II were quietly let go yesterday. In addition, the conference rooms are booked for today. I have not heard from other offices, but the Cleveland office appears to be kicking off the race early.


Seems early but our source indicated that these were audit professionals and we’re sure each office has their own method to the madness. Layoffs as this level were also not mentioned by Stephen Chipman during his firm-wide call back in January, although many have indicated that they would be happening regardless.

We left a message with the Cleveland office’s HR but so far we haven’t heard back and GT’s national PR has not responded to our email. If you’ve got an unexpected meeting coming up or have more details, get on the horn.