mergers, including one when it opened
an office in Greeley in 2010 by combining
with Watkins & Schommer.
M&A Watch
FROM PAGE 30
ILLINOIS
Porte Brown acquires Meador Stratton
Details: Porte Brown LLC has acquired
Elk Grove Village-based Meador Stratton
LLP, expanding the Chicago-area firm’s
footprint to Indiana. The acquisition took
effect December 1. Ralph Meador and
Louis Stratton and their five employees
have joined Porte Brown. Terms were not
disclosed. Meador Stratton will operate
under the Porte Brown name, but will
maintain its current offices in Highland,
Ind. The acquisition adds some additional
territory in the Chicago Southland market
for Porte Brown, along with extra services
such as peer reviews and technology
services. Porte Brown has more than
doubled its size over the past five years
after acquiring seven other firms.
KANSAS
SJHL, BSE merge
Details: McPherson, Kan.-based
Swindoll, Janzen, Hawk & Loyd has acquired Hutchinson-based BSE, effective
January 1. SJHL’s 25 staff and BSE’s three
will remain in their two office locations,
under the SJHL name. Terms were not
disclosed. SJHL celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2011, while BSE served the
Hutchinson area for more than 85 years.
Davis & Bellomo acquires local practice
Details: CPA and business consulting firm Davis & Bellomo has acquired
the Leawood, Kan.-based practice of
Willa Franklin. Terms were not disclosed.
Founded 13 years ago by Willa Franklin, the firm services clients in the retail,
restaurant and construction industries.
This is the second acquisition for Davis &
Bellomo in the past 18 months.
MASSACHUSETTS
Marcum expands in Boston
Details: Marcum LLP expanded its
presence in Boston by acquiring Robert,
Finnegan & Lynah PC, effective January
1. The firm, which dates back to 1932,
will become part of Marcum’s New Eng-
land practice and has already relocated
to Marcum’s offices. Terms were not
disclosed. The firm expanded in 2010 to
New England by acquiring several offices
from UHY. “Marcum continues to look at
Boston as a great market for growth, and
I wouldn’t be surprised to see another
one or two deals in the next couple of
years,” said Koltin Consulting Group
CEO Allan Koltin, who advised RF&L.
MICHIGAN
Plante Moran merges
in Stuart Franey Matthews & Chantres
Details: Plante Moran is beefing up its
construction industry practice by merging
in Stuart Franey Matthews & Chantres PC,
a Michigan firm that focuses on contractors. The merger took effect on January
1. SFM&C has already relocated from
its office in Farmington Hills to Plante
Moran’s headquarters in Southfield.
Terms were not disclosed, but SFM&C is
expected to add approximately $2.5 million in annual revenue to Plante Moran’s
$300 million. Partners Ken Franey, Ron
Chantres, Mike Nordquist and Phil Pflugh
are joining Plante Moran, along with 12
staff. However, Franey and Chantres plan
to retire in the next few years.
THE MIDWEST
Eide Bailly and Wipfli to merge in June
Details: Eide Bailly plans to merge with
its fellow Top 100 Firm Wipfli in June to
create one of the largest firms in the U.S.,
with revenue of more than $314 million
and 2,327 partners and associates.
The combined firm will be known as
EB Wipfli. The firms expect the merger to
take effect on June 1. The combined firm
will serve more than 70,000 clients from
41 offices across the West and Midwest,
along with two offices in India.
Eide Bailly managing partner and CEO
Jerry Topp will become chairman of EB
Wipfli, while Wipfli MP and CEO Rick
Dreher will retain his current title. They
said in an interview that the two firms had
been in talks about a merger for about a
year, and worked out the merger without
outside advisors because they both have
M&A experience. Dreher noted that Wipfli will be able to enhance its health care
and financial institutions niches through
the combination, along with manufacturing and distribution services. His firm will
also be able to add Eide Bailly’s niches in
agriculture and oil and gas.
NEW JERSEY
Traphagen merges in Paramus firm
Details: Traphagen Financial Group, a
provider of accounting and wealth management services based in Oradell, N.J.,
has merged in the Paramus, N.J.-based
practice of Gerald Brignola, CPA, effective January 1. Terms were not disclosed.
Transition Advisors, a merger and acquisition consulting firm, assisted in the deal.
Smolin Lupin merges in McKinley White
Details: Fairfield-based Smolin Lupin
& Co. has merged with McKinley White &
Co. LLP of Paramus, expanding the firm’s
services in the not-for-profit, education
and transportation sectors. The merger,
which took effect January 16, will bring
two new CPA partners, Thomas McKinley,
and Susan White, to Smolin Lupin, along
with accounting and support staff. The
expanded team is expected to dovetail
well with the other CPAs at the firm.
NEW YORK
BDO merges in Salibello & Broder
WeiserMazars merges in Biscotti Toback
ONTARIO
Deloitte absorbs Skura BI Group
Details: Deloitte has added Toronto-based Skura Business Intelligence Group
to its Canadian firm, bringing in professionals from the group to augment its
information management and analytics
technology practice in the firm’s consult-
ing unit in Canada. Financial terms of the
deal were not disclosed. Professional staff
from the group who have joined Deloitte
include managing director Ken Shum and
technical director Chris Szaban.
THE SOUTHEAST
Warren Averett bulks up
Details: Top 100 Firm Warren, Averett,
Kimbrough & Marino LLC is merging
with Wilson, Price, Barranco, Blanken-ship & Billingsley PC and O’Sullivan Creel
LLP to create one of the largest firms in
the Southeast. The merger took effect
on Jan. 1, 2012, and the three firms will
operate under the name Warren Averett
LLC, with the identity of the original firm
also being retained after the Warren Averett name. The new firm will have more
than 550 team members and 12 offices
from the Tennessee Valley to the Gulf of
Mexico. Warren Averett LLC will also rank
among the top 35 firms in the nation.
Under the new structure, James Cun-ningham will serve as CEO of Warren
Averett LLC and continue to serve as
CEO and managing member of Birmingham, Ala.-based WAKM. Montgomery,
Ala.-based Wilson Price will operate as
Warren Averett Wilson Price, with Charles
Jordan and Richard Stabler maintaining
their roles as co-managing members.
O’Sullivan Creel LLP, with six offices
from Baldwin County, Ala., to Okaloosa
County, Fla., will operate as Warren Averett O’Sullivan Creel, with Mort O’Sullivan
continuing as managing member.
TEXAS
Weaver expands in San Antonio
Details: Top 100 Firm Weaver has
expanded its reach in the San Antonio
market, merging in local firm John R.
Hannah & Co. The merger was effective
January 1. Terms were not disclosed. All
nine employees of the 35-year-old John
R. Hannah are expected to remain, including owner and founder John Hannah,
who was named a senior managing director at Weaver. This is the third merger in
the San Antonio market for Weaver.
WASHINGTON
Deloitte acquires mobile consultancy
Details: Deloitte’s consulting arm has
acquired Ubermind, a Seattle-based
agency that helps companies develop
and use mobile applications. Financial
terms of the deal were not disclosed. The
acquisition will bring proprietary methodologies to Deloitte Consulting.
