BDO to Acquire UHY’s Texas Practice

BDO USA LLP has entered into an agreement to acquire Top 100 Firm UHY Advisor's Texas practice. The deal is expected to close on December 1.

The UHY Texas practice provides a range of financial and consulting services to a diversified client base in the energy, manufacturing, distribution, professional services, health care and real estate sectors. The new addition will bolster BDO’s presence in Houston and Dallas.

“We are now adding a very prominent energy sector group, with a specialty in upstream and oil field services,” BDO CEO Wayne Berson said in an interview with Accounting Today. “One of the focus areas for us worldwide is in the natural resources practice. We always look at what the futurists are saying and what the GDP is in each of the major areas to see what are the other areas we really want to invest in. One of the hottest markets in the country today is certainly Houston. That’s why we worked so hard to get a deal done in Houston.”

"Upon completion of this transaction, we will be the dominant alternative to the Big Four in both the Texas and the national energy markets," Berson noted in a separate statement.

“This deal puts UHY squarely in the middle-market wheelhouse that they excel at and it puts UHY Texas on a platform to take their specialty areas and overall firm to the next level,” said Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, who advised both firms on the deal. “For BDO, this deal essentially doubles their size in Texas and makes them a significant powerhouse in the region.”

"Many firms have contacted us over the years to inquire about our prominent energy industry experience and SEC practice in the Texas marketplace. As we implement our strategic plan and move forward as a united firm, it made sense to divest our Texas operations and continue our focus on growing as a top middle-market services provider,” UHY Advisors CEO Tony Frabotta said in a statement.

BDO has been on an acquisition spree for the last two years. In May 2014, it tapped into Texas when it added the Fort Worth, Texas-based regional accounting firm Hartman Leito & Bolt. In June 2014, BDO picked up several more firms located in Alaska, Minnesota and the Northeast. About a week prior to its UHY Texas deal BDO added Ohio-based Top 100 Firm SS&G Inc. (See BDO’s Addition of SS&G Taps into Restaurants)

Each of these deals pushed the firm closer to the $1 billion revenue mark and Berson applauds BDO’s Core Business Services Group, which helped push these deals through smoothly. “They are the unsung heroes to the BDO deals. They have really played a part in helping make these deals happen.”

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