Tag: Accounting firm mergers

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Is Grant Thornton Finally Coming to Connecticut?

Sounds like it. By way of gobbling up a firm that sounds like it should belong to John Fogerty.

[CCR, LLP] [t]he full-service accounting and advisory firm announced Monday that it has entered into “exclusive negotiations” with Chicago-based Grant Thornton, one of the largest U.S. accounting firms that currently lacks a Connecticut presence. Its closest office is Boston. Neither party elaborated on terms and boundaries of their talks, except to say in a written statement that “a resolution is expected by year-end.” CCR, with offices in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is the 13th largest accounting firm in the Hartford Region with 44 employees and 22 CPAs[.]

CCR has five office locations, none of which were born on the bayou, and only one – Glastonbury – that’s in the Constitution State. So technically, they’d be in CT but I mean, COME ON.

Another CT CPA firm in merger cross-hairs [HB]

Accounting Firm Merger Mania: LarsonAllen and Clifton Gunderson Feeling Each Other Out

It’s been quite awhile since we heard a good merger rumor and this past week we finally heard one that doesn’t involve Moss Adams or Grant Thornton.

Rumor has it Larson Allen and Clifton Gunderson are merging. Vote approved by Larsen Allen, vote pending by CG.


We checked with another source, someone familiar with dealings within the accounting industry, who confirmed that the two firms are talking. According to this person, the combination would make sense as both LA and CG are “sleepy” firms that don’t perform public company audits and have been making small acquisitions here and there. Also it would strengthen CG in areas like Virginia/Maryland where they are rumored to be lowballing engagements and Larson in places like Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin where CG has a big presence. This person also said that the deal was “probably 50/50 right now” with the rumored name of the new firm being “CliftonLarsonAllen”.

Clifton Gunderson CEO Krista McMasters told Going Concern that this is “not a story” right now because the firms are simply in “exploratory discussions” and there has not been a vote by the CG partners. Ms. McMasters also denied that there had been any decision on the name of the combined firm, reiterating that they are simply feeling each other out.

Even though it doesn’t sound like things are hot and heavy yet, we rammed a few details together from Accounting Today’s most recent Top 100 Firms list to see what the CliftonLarsonAllen firm would look like:

• A combined $470 million in revenues. That would be good enough to be the 10th largest firm in the U.S.

• 60 offices (probably some consolidation) in 24 states and The District of Columbia.

• Over 300 partners and 3,000 total employees.

A spokesman at LarsonAllen declined to comment but was trying to get someone in the know to call us back. So far, we haven’t heard anything. If you’re in the loop and have more details to share, email us.

Moss Adams Announces Combination with a Non-Grant Thornton Firm

Back in the spring, any chances of a GranMA merger that originally cropped up back in January were put to rest. This was after an impassioned denial by Moss Adams CEO Rick Anderson to his fellow partners.

And maybe all the GranMA talk was just that- talk. But what’s not talk is that Moss is moving into the midwest combination with Overland Park, Kansas-based Warinner, Gesinger & Associates LLC (“WGA”).


WGA focuses on telecommunications clients, which will allow MA to expand its own telecom practice outside the west. WGA principals Bill Warinner and Jarret Rea will join Moss Adams as partners, and Andrew Denzer will join as a director. You want quotes from the particulars? You got it!

“We look forward to helping our clients further strengthen their financial operations,” Warinner said. “This is a challenging time for the telecom industry and we are excited to deepen our telecom practice. In addition, Moss Adams provides a full spectrum of telecom and value-added services that our clients will enjoy.”

For Moss Adams, the combination demonstrates the firm’s commitment to strengthening its telecom offerings and to growing the Moss Adams team. According to Rick Betts, chair of the Moss Adams telecom practice, “Moss Adams is focused on providing premier client service. A strong Moss Adams presence in the Midwest means our telecom clients have more resources at their fingertips.”

So sorry GT, Moss Adams has moved on, officially. Hope you have too.

Unfounded Rumor of the Day: Grant Thornton About to Announce a ‘Big West Coast Deal’

Remember those GT/Moss Adams rumors from back in January? At the time, our post sent both firms calling for plumbers but we still mangaged to get a copy of an email from Moss Adams CEO Rick Anderson that denied the rumor in an email to the firm’s partners. Everything has been quiet since then mostly because…well, it’s busy season. Granted, firm leaders like Stephen Chipman and Rick Anderson aren’t thigh-deep in spreadsheets like most of you so the fact it’s entirely plausible that while you’re all distracted, TPTB have been courting each other.

We received this brief note from a tipster yesterday:

Rumor is [Grant Thornton] [is] about to announce big west coast deal.


Our source originally speculated that a tax/valuation/consulting boutique was the target because of an old Andersen connection but then told us that the latest word from the west coast is that Moss Adams is back in the picture. In our original post, we went over the reasons for and against the GranMoss merger and frankly it still could go either way (we’re leaning “no” at this point). That said, Grant Thornton has been on a buying spree, most recently picking up some attest services from the LECG Corp. fire sale, so a merger of some kind wouldn’t be a surprise but WHO?? We’re listening to any and all well-founded or crackpot theories.

Moss Adams has declined to comment on the rumor thus far and Grant Thornton did not return an email requesting comment.

UPDATE: This just in from a Grant Thornton tipster:

While I have no actual basis for substantiating this, we have a Moss Adams wireless signal in our office in the central region. There is no Moss Adams office in our building, or even out state, its been there since about January when the rumors first popped up. I just thought it was interesting. I have no insight into any of this, I’m just a lowly peon staff…

Perhaps there’s an explanation for this but I’m no expert on the wireless signals and whatnot so I’ll leave it to you to reason this out.

Moss Adams CEO Denies Grant Thornton Merger Rumor in Email to Partners

In reaction to our post yesterday about the rumor of Grant Thornton and Moss Adams being united in wedded CPA firm bliss, Moss Adams Chairman and CEO sent an email to MA partners yesterday afternoon. The email, sent to us earlier today, let the partners know that no one is out of the loop, “[L]et me start by assuring you that you did not miss a partner call, a partner memo or any other such communication dealing with this.”


Mr Anderson also wrote that he has spoken to Grant Thornton, “Since we last had the all partner webinar, there have been no substantive discussions with GT – I say no substantive discussions because I have been at an AICPA major firms meeting where I not only had casual discussions with the GT leadership team, but I had similar discussions with the leadership of most of the 30-50 largest CPA firms in the country, exclusive of the Big 4.”

So you can interpret things like, “no substantive discussions with GT” and “casual discussion with the GT leadership team” how you like but Mr Anderson made himself a little clearer near the end of the email, “I can absolutely assure you that while we have had discussions with a large number of firms (of all sizes) over the past 12 months […] there are currently no negotiations under way with any firm regarding merger. But I can also tell you that I and other [Executive Committee] members will be talking to some west coast firms over the next several weeks.”

Moss Adams has not responded to our most recent request for comment. Grant Thornton sent back our carrier pigeon with it’s head cut off (very Chicago), which is the closest thing resembling a response that we’ve ever received from the firm. We’ll keep you updated.

Unfounded Rumor of the Day: Grant Thornton and Moss Adams in Merger Talks

This week we learned that Dixon Hughes and Goodman & Co. would be wedded in CPA firm bliss on March 1st. We’ve also seen a couple of smaller mergers announced this week in the tri-state area: Rosen Seymour Shapss Martin & Company LLP and Kahn, Hoffman & Hochman, LLP formed Kahn Hoffman & Hochman and Morrison, Brown, Argiz & Farra, LLC and ERE, LLP.

But eheard a rumor that trumps all of these:

The new rumor is that Grant Thornton and Moss Adams are merging. I have it on good authority (an industry consultant and the MP of a California firm).


Okay, so not exactly rock solid but intriguing enough for us to ask around. So far, Grant Thornton spokeswoman Kristi Grgeta has not returned our emails or voicemails and Moss Adams has declined to comment at this time. We’re poking around with other sources but still waiting to hear back.

So for now, let’s just go with the hypothetical. If GT and Moss were to combine, it would make them the 5th largest firm in the U.S., narrowly edging out McGladrey, with about $1.5 billion in revenues, going by Accounting Today’s most recent figures. Currently they are 6th (GT) and 11th (MA) on the AT100 list and 6th (MA) and 23rd (GT) on Vault’s flagship ranking. Their combined forces would have nearly 800 partners and over 7,100 total employees, if you assume no layoffs.

While all that might serve Stephen Chipman’s desire more dynamic clients (and perhaps more blogging fodder?), it would certainly require a few more hand-written notes. Not only that but GT already has a presence in every major market that Moss Adams does unless they’re looking to mine the Eugene, Oregon market for LOSERS and have reconsidered their divestment in Albuquerque. Also culturally, this seems like a strange fit as GT strikes us as pretty buttoned-down while Moss Adams is more laid back but maybe we’ve got that wrong. You tell us.

Regardless, Grant Thornton has voiced interest in merger possibilities and picked up Huron Consulting’s Disputes & Investigations practice last year, so who knows!? Both firms just closed the books on 2010 and maybe they’re laying some groundwork?

So, what do the GT and MA people make of this? Hell, anyone can chime in, we’re just finding this particular rumor pret-tay interesting. Some things make sense and some don’t, so we’ll leave it to you to hash out. And of course, if any of this sounds familiar because, you know, you heard something in a meeting about this very topic, email us. We’ll update you with anything we hear.