M&A roundup: EisnerAmper, BKD and Grant Thornton make deals

Published May 5, 2020 4:14 PM

Updated May 5, 2020 4:29 PM

1 Min Read

EisnerAmper has merged in consulting firm Compensation Resources Inc., and BKD has acquired part of Grant Thornton’s municipal government auditing practice.

EisnerAmper adds Compensation Resources

EisnerAmper's office building in Metropark/Iselin, N.J.

EisnerAmper office building in Metropark/Iselin, N.J.

Courtesy of EisnerAmper

Details: EisnerAmper LLP, a Top 20 Firm based in New York, has added Compensation Resources, Inc., a compensation consulting firm based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, to its consulting practice.

CRI, which was formed in 1989, focuses on offering comprehensive compensation consulting services such as executive compensation, base pay administration, sales compensation, performance management, board advisory services and litigation support. CRI’s Training Institute supplies customized training programs to clients to improve their internal compensation expertise. It works with privately held, publicly traded and nonprofit clients across the U.S.

“As companies continue to face complex organizational changes and human capital challenges, combining with CRI represents a strategic move that bolsters EisnerAmper’s Consulting Group and provides yet another value-added service that clients eagerly seek,” said EisnerAmper vice chair of services Christopher Loiacono in a statement.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EisnerAmper ranked 18th on Accounting Today’s 2020 list of Top 100 Firms, with $380.6 million in annual revenue. The firm has over 180 partners and 1,500 staff members. As part of the deal, CRI CEO Mary Rizzuti is joining EisnerAmper as a managing director.

“CRI has a well-earned reputation for providing sound business advice to its clients with creativity, resourcefulness and professional accountability,” Rizzuti said in a statement. “And now, as part of EisnerAmper, we greatly look forward to bringing effective, impactful and practical compensation solutions to a much wider audience.”

In January, EisnerAmper added another firm in New Jersey, Horvath & Giacin.

BKD buys part of Grant Thornton muni audit practice

Garret Layman

Details: BKD CPAs & Advisors has acquired a portion of Grant Thornton’s municipal government audit practice, mostly in Texas and Oklahoma.

BKD also is acquiring a small number of nonprofit, commercial and benefit plan clients as part of the transaction.

The deal comes after six months of discussions with Grant Thornton. As part of the transaction, three new partners will join BKD. Ben Kohnle has joined BKD’s Dallas office, effective April 1, to help manage the transition of client relationships to BKD. The firm anticipates most clients will have moved to BKD by August. As a result, BKD’s revenues are expected to range from $3 million to $3.5 million in fiscal year 2021 for the practice.

The firm, based in Springfield, Missouri, ranked 15th on Accounting Today’s 2020 list of the Top 100 Firms, with a total of $662.91 million in annual revenue across the firm. Grant Thornton, based in Chicago, ranked in 6th place, with $1.95 billion in annual revenue. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The other partners joining BKD this year on a full-time basis are Angie Dunlap, who is joining BKD’s Houston office on June 15, and Dan Barron, who joins BKD’s Dallas office on Aug. 15. In the meantime, Dunlap and Barron will remain with Grant Thornton to facilitate the wrap-up of their in-process audit engagements.

“We’re excited about the clients that Ben, Dan and Angie will bring to BKD, and we also see tremendous promise in their abilities to help us grow our public sector practice, especially with large cities and public universities,” said BKD CEO Ted Dickman in a statement. “The South Region’s public sector and NFP practice has grown nearly 14 percent in FY 2020 so far, and adding this new talent will help us maintain our momentum into 2021 and beyond.”

BKD said its South Region public sector and NFP practice is one of its fastest-growing niches. The South Region has led development of BKD’s Nonprofit Advisory Services practice and has added a number of city governments, public and private universities and a wide range of nonprofit clients over the last five years.

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