M&A roundup: Baker Tilly, Blue and AAB expand

Details: Baker Tilly said Tuesday it intends to acquire The Compliance Group, a nationwide mortgage compliance and quality control organization based in Carlsbad, California, effective Dec. 6, 2021.

TCG helps mortgage lenders with regulatory compliance and risk management services. The deal will open a new practice area for Baker Tilly in the mortgage market, and the firm plans to create a mortgage lending center of excellence.

“In the hot U.S. mortgage lending market, we provide the regulatory compliance and risk management, along with digital technology, necessary to support our clients from all angles — keeping them agile in a quickly evolving environment,” said Christine Fenske, managing partner of Baker Tilly’s financial services practice, in a statement.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Baker Tilly ranked No. 12 on Accounting Today’s 2021 list of the Top 100 Firms. The firm’s annual revenue as of May 31, 2021 was $1 billion, across consulting, tax and assurance services. The Compliance Group’s revenue as of Dec. 31, 2020 was $11.3 million. Baker Tilly has 4,600 professionals, including 450 partners. The Compliance Group has 110 professionals, including three partners.TCG’s 110-person remotely located team will join Baker Tilly as part of the deal.

“Baker Tilly brings TCG clients significantly more resources and capabilities coast-to-coast,” TCG CEO Annemaria Allen said in a statement. “We chose to join forces with Baker Tilly because of their vision and strategy and the opportunities we now have to create even more value for our clients and employees.”

Last week, Baker Tilly announced that it plans to acquire the MFA Companies, a Boston-based accounting and advisory firm, effective Dec. 2, 2021. Earlier this fall, Baker Tilly acquired Arnett Carbis Toothman LLP in West Virginia, effective Nov. 1, as well as acquiring AcctTwo, a Houston-based technology and services company. Earlier in the year, it announced it was acquiring Margolin, Winer & Evens, a Regional Leader firm in New York, effective Nov. 1. Last year, it acquired Squar Milner and Brown Adams Agbayani in California, as well as Talavant, a data analytics firm in Madison, Wisconsin.

Details: Blue & Co. LLC, a Top 100 Firm based in Carmel, Indiana, plans to partially acquire Stuedle, Spears, & Company PSC, an accounting and consulting firm based in Louisville, Kentucky, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

This acquisition will provide Blue & Co., LLC with bigger market share in the Louisville area, while adding more people who will focus on services and niche industry markets. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Blue & Co. ranked No. 56 on Accounting Today’s 2021 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $90.45 million in annual revenue.

As part of the deal, Stuedle Spears partner M. Kristin Stuedle and principal Joseph A. Stuedle will join Blue in the firm’s Louisville office. The combined staff of Blue & Co. and Stuedle Spears will total more than 450 professionals in 10 offices across three states.

“We are excited to welcome M. Kristin and Joe Stuedle and their team from Stuedle, Spears & Company to the Blue & Co.” said Blue & Co. managing director Brad Shaw in a statement Monday. “Kristin and Joe bring deep relationships within the Louisville community and a strong passion for serving their clients. Blue & Co. is always looking for opportunities to grow our organization with like-minded professionals that share our firm values of Responsive, Caring and Advocates.”

Kristin and Joe Stuedle bring more than 75 years of combined public accounting experience as tax consultants to the firm. Joe opened a public accounting firm nearly 50 years ago with his late wife, Mary. Kristin worked for three Fortune 500 companies before joining the firm in 1999 where she ultimately acted as the managing partner.

The Stuedles provide consulting and tax compliance services to pass-through entities, trusts and individuals.

“I’m thrilled we will merge at the beginning of the year,” said Kristin Stuedle in a statement. “For me, the connection with Blue was instant when we shared our beliefs on how clients should be treated, and from there I knew we could make this work. My clients will hopefully see more timely results and communication, as well as benefit from additional value-added services that Blue can offer.”

In 2019, Blue & Co. merged in Clarus Partners, a firm based in Columbus, Ohio.

Details: Anderson Anderson & Brown, a Scottish technology consulting firm, is merging with Leeds-based accounting firm Sagars to expand its regional presence in the U.K.

The firms expect to deliver a combined £40 million ($54.2 million) in revenue in the current fiscal year. AAB is on track to deliver over £32.5 million ($43.9 million) in revenue in the current financial year and Sagars is on track to deliver over £7.5 million ($10.1 million) in revenue in the current financial year. Collectively they aim to deliver £70 million ($94.9 million) in group revenue by 2026, thanks to a recent investment from August Equity.

AAB’s expansion to Leeds will add to its existing offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.

The group’s combined staff includes over 450 staff members across AAB and Sagars, including 28 partners. AAB has 350 employees, while Sagars has 100. They will be providing a number of business services, including audit, accounting, tax, payroll, HR, consulting, wealth and corporate finance. Sagars managing partner Chris Jones is joining AAB as part of the deal.

“We have worked closely with Chris and the Sagars team over the last 10 years, and they are aligned with our way of thinking,” said AAB chief executive Graeme Allan in a statement Monday. “Like us, they are driven by a passion for helping people (clients and team members alike) achieve their goals. We are hugely excited about the opportunity Sagars presents in Leeds and this merger enables us to support an even wider range of SME and enterprise clients across the U.K.”

Jones sees it as a way to grow his firm after collaborating with AAB over the years. “We are delighted to be partnering with AAB in the next phase of our growth journey,” Jones said in a statement. “Through the merger we can achieve our goal of increasing the depth and breadth of the services we offer, whilst retaining an ability to shape our own future. We were attracted by AAB because we both have a clear focus on delivering awesome client service, investing in and developing our people and expanding our portfolio of tech-enabled services for the SME and enterprise markets. We have no doubt that our complementary skills and service lines will mean that together, we will be able to do more for our clients, whilst providing great opportunities for all our team in a fast-growing business services group that is highly differentiated in the market.”

AAB and Sagars are both members of Accelerate, a community of accounting firms, and through it to the Crowe Global network of accounting firms in more than 130 countries around the world. AAB also is the Scottish member firm of The International Accounting Group (TIAG).