M&A roundup: Schneider Downs expands

Schneider Downs, a Top 75 Firm based in Pittsburgh, added a team of five strategic and transaction advisory consultants from Springer Lawson & Associates, a firm in Reston, Virginia, to its consulting and business advisory practice, effective May 1.

Schneider Downs did not acquire SLA, but SLA's partners and employees terminated their employment after sunsetting the business, and then joined Schneider Downs. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Schneider Downs ranked No. 60 on Accounting Today's 2023 list of the Top 100 Firms. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, Schneider Downs' revenue is expected to be $119 million and SLA's is $2 million.

SLA shareholder Tom Springer and director Stuart Lawson are among those joining Schneider Downs. Springer will be a partner and Lawson will be a managing director.  Three other employees are also coming on board: senior manager Christine Marshall, and Rebecca Talley and Timothy "Wayne" Pigott, both of whom are senior IIs. Schneider Downs has 530 full-time workers, including 48 shareholders.

The two firms have worked together on joint projects in recent years. The SLA offices in Northern Virginia will provide Schneider Downs with additional resources to serve existing clients in that region, while also helping the firm expand offerings in its Washington D.C. office. 

"It's a rare opportunity to add such a collective strength of business expertise and experience at one time," said Schneider Downs co-CEO Chris McElroy in a statement Thursday. "Tom, Stuart and their team have excellent in-depth experience in helping their clients operate more efficiently and profitably, and in ensuring that businesses maximize their value in sell-side transactions. That fits in perfectly in conjunction with our rapidly growing business advisory and corporate finance practices. We know from our previous projects together that this is an excellent cultural fit, as well as an important expansion of our strategic and transaction advisory service offerings."

Schulman Lobel LLP, a New York-based accounting firm, acquired the tax compliance division of DFP Partners, and merged with Tanton Grubman CPAs LLP and Steinberg Shebairo LLP, also in New York.

The three recent mergers and acquisitions added over $7 million in billings and more than 30 new employees to Schulman Lobel, including five new partners. The firm's total revenue will be $20 million, and it will have 15 partners and 74 staff members, up from $12.7 million before the deals.

The acquisition of DFP Partners' tax compliance division added more than 100 high-end tax clients to Schulman Lobel's roster. The deal, which took effect in January, was facilitated by Robert Fligel of RF Resources LLC.

"We are excited to add the expertise and experience of the DFP team to our firm," said Schulman Lobel managing partner Norm Schulman in a statement. "This acquisition allows us to strengthen and expand our tax advisory and compliance services and offer our clients an even deeper bench."

Tanton Grubman CPAs LLP specializes in high-net-worth clients, cross-border taxation, entertainment and lifestyle brands, startup businesses and entrepreneurs, business structuring considerations and financial services. "This merger was a natural, as we are similar in many ways but fill in the other's needs," said Tanton Grubman managing partner Robert Grubman in a statement. 

The merger adds a music and fashion practice to Schulman Lobel's existing roster of entertainment clients.  "The teams joined together seamlessly, having sparked synergies early on," said Tanton Grubman partner Deborah Chichester in a statement. "We had begun to collaborate and share ideas long before we officially merged, and we are now working together as one solid firm." 

Chichester, Grubman and David Barrett are joining Schulman Lobel as partners from Tanton Grubman.

Steinberg Shebairo serves commercial clients in the service industry (including law, public relations and event production), high-end retail establishments, and nonprofit charitable foundations. Like Schulman Lobel, Steinberg Shebairo also serves an arts and entertainment industry client base, including performing artists, producers, and creative artists, as well as recording, theatrical, and media production companies. As with the DFP Partners acquisition, the merger was facilitated by Robert Fligel of RF Resources.

"The Schulman Lobel mergers enhance and fortify our ability to provide the highest level of service to our clients, to attract and retain quality and experienced personnel, and to offer a broad range of services," said Steinberg Shebairo managing partner Jeremy Steinberg in a press release. "As a combined organization, we deepen our strengths, allowing us to continue to serve our existing client base while also providing the resources necessary to evolve in this ever-changing world." 

Walter Pardo and his New Jersey-based Wealth Financial Partners LLC team joined Avantax, a tax-focused financial planning firm.

Avatax was formerly known as Blucora before the company sold off its TaxAct tax prep software business last November to a U.K. private equity fund, Cinven, for $720 million and rebranded to focus on providing tax-focused wealth management through its existing independent broker-dealer, Avantax Wealth Management, and its employee-based registered investment advisor, Avantax Planning Partners (see story).

"From the beginning, the language I heard from Avantax was all about tax mitigation and proactive tax planning on behalf of clients, which is my world already, so that was incredibly important," Pardo said in a statement Wednesday. "There aren't many broker-dealers that embrace tax like Avantax does, and I like that they're standing behind their tax strategy and that they proactively take that tax-focused approach to their advisors in a very positive way."