Kentucky’s largest CPA firm, Mountjoy Chilton Medley, is planning to combine with McCauley Nicolas, the largest Southern Indiana accounting firm in the Louisville metropolitan area.

Mike Mountjoy

The merger, which takes effect on Oct. 1, will create a large regional firm in the Kentucky/Indiana/Ohio tri-state area, with offices in Louisville, Lexington, & Frankfort, Ky., Jeffersonville, Ind., and Cincinnati, Ohio. The combined firm will retain the Mountjoy Chilton Medley name.

The merger is expected to expand the resources for existing and future clients, increase opportunities for members of both firms and strengthen MCM’s position in the market, according to Mike Mountjoy, the firm’s co-managing partner.

“This positions our firm perfectly to succeed and grow in an increasingly competitive marketplace,” Mountjoy said in a statement. “It expands our reach into new geographical areas and provides our clients with additional expertise and resources.”

McCauley Nicolas managing member Ron Barnes called the merger “a perfect fit” for both firms. “These are two firms with similar philosophies and culture,” he said. “Both firms have consistently been named among the best places to work in the region. We respect and value our team members, and we’re dedicated to developing long-term relationships that help our clients achieve a strategic advantage.”

MCM co-managing partner Diane Medley said the merger is part of the firm’s strategic plan to provide a full range of services to a growing base of clients in the tri-state area of Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio.

“We’re in a growth mode, but not just growth for growth’s sake,” she said. “We’re growing strategically, reinforcing our strengths, adding new services and expanding our existing services. It’s all about enhancing service to our clients and bringing them as much value as possible.”

The merger will also combine the two firms’ independent wealth-management operations—Capital Asset Management LLC and Meritrust Wealth Management LLC—to form a full-service registered investment advisor and financial services firm. The combined group will maintain the Meritrust Wealth Management name and will bring the financial advisor count to 7 with approximately $500 million in assets under management.

This is the fourth merger in the past three years for MCM, a firm created in November 2009, when Chilton & Medley LLP merged with Mountjoy and Bressler LLP. In August 2010, MCM merged with Hawkins Company LLC, a Louisville-based CPA firm specializing in financial institutions, and in November 2011, MCM added Pat McCafferty, CPA, a Cincinnati-based accountant specializing in the hospitality industry.

With the addition of McCauley Nicolas, MCM now has offices in five cities and three states – Lexington, Frankfort and Louisville, all in Kentucky; Cincinnati, Ohio, and Jeffersonville, Ind. Employing more than 110 CPAs, MCM is the largest full-service accounting firm in Kentucky.

McCauley Nicolas employs 23 CPAs. The firm was established in 1946 as a sole proprietorship in New Albany, Ind.

As the firm grew, it added an office in Madison, Ind., and later merged with Kaelin and Byrne in Jeffersonville and opened a Louisville office. In July 2000, the firm consolidated its offices into a new five-story office building in Jeffersonville directly across from downtown Louisville. MCM plans to continue using that office building.