M&A Watch: PE fuels more deals

June 4, 2025 4:00 PM

Three private equity-backed firms have made deals: Carr, Riggs & Ingram has expanded into East Texas by merging in Axley & Rode; UHY is continuing its expansion in St. Louis by adding Sabino & Co.; and Prosperity Partners moved into Vermont by adding Danaher, Attig & Plante. Meanwhile, Top 100 Firm Sensiba has acquired Australia-based cybersecurity audit and risk assurance firm AssuranceLab.

Axley & Rode partners and staff with CRI chairman Bill Carr outside the Axley & Rode office in Lufkin, Texas.

CRI expands in East Texas

Top 25 Firm Carr, Riggs & Ingram is expanding into East Texas by merging in Lufkin-based Axley & Rode LLP.

Axley & Rode was founded in 1949 and has offices in Lufkin, Jasper, Livingston and Nacogdoches.

"Texas has always been a crucial part of CRI's growth strategy," said CRI chairman Bill Carr, in a statement. "With Axley & Rode now on board, we have established our presence in the East Texas market, which is new territory for us. Axley & Rode has deep roots in East Texas and ties to their communities, similar to many of our CRI locations. Their emphasis on client service, relationship-oriented offerings, and cultivating beneficial partnerships for all parties aligns with CRI's founding principles and the culture we've cultivated and strive to maintain."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but 10 partners and the current staff of Axley & Rode are expected to join CRI, which has over 400 partners and close to 40 offices.

The deal is the second since CRI took on an outside investment from Centerbridge Partners in November 2024; it merged in Indiana-based CapinCrouse in January 2025. Prior to that, in August 2024, CRI added ProSport CPA, a firm in New Kent County, Virginia. In 2023, the firm expanded into Oklahoma by adding Stanfield + O'Dell PC, a firm in Tulsa. CRI expanded to South Carolina in 2022 by adding Lanning Group LLC, a firm based in Mount Pleasant in the Charleston suburbs, and expanded in Florida by adding Alonso & Garcia, a firm in Miami. It expanded that year in Florida by adding Travani & Richter in Jupiter, and in Texas by adding Pharr Bounds LLP in Austin.

UHY grows in St. Louis

Top 50 Firm UHY has continued its expansion in St. Louis with the addition of Sabino & Co. LLC.

Founded in 1998, Sabino serves the real estate and construction industries, which fits in with UHY's sector focus for Greater St. Louis.

"St. Louis continues to be a dynamic and growing business hub in the Midwest," said Jerry Townsend, Midwest Region managing director at UHY, in a statement. "With its diverse economy and strong entrepreneurial spirit, the demand for high-quality, client-focused accounting services is even greater than ever. This combination represents an exciting opportunity to expand our footprint, deepen our relationships, and deliver even more value to clients. We are excited to welcome the Sabino team and their clients to UHY."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but managing partner David Sabino and his team will relocate to UHY's Maplewood office.

"From the moment I met the team at UHY, it was clear that our firms were aligned in culture, commitment to quality, and client service philosophy," said Sabino, in a statement. "When seeking a firm to join, it was important for me to think about where I see my team and our clients in the future. I am confident that UHY will allow us to better serve our clients with more expansive, national services, and specialists who can help our team grow."

Sabino & Co. is UHY's third acquisition since it received private equity funding from Summit Partners at the end of 2024: In January 2025, it brought in Farmington Hills, Michigan-based Tama, Budaj & Raab, and another St. Louis-based firm, Botz Deal & Co.

The firm was no stranger to M&A before PE, though; in January 2024, it added Paresky Flitt & Co., headquartered in Wayland, Massachusetts. In 2023, UHY merged in Baird, Cotter & Bishop PC in Michigan; and Ross, Langan & McKendree in McLean, Virginia, In 2022, it added Jansen Valk Thompson Reahm in Michigan; LWBJ in Iowa; and TGM Group LLC and Stoy Malone, both in Maryland.

Prosperity Partners moves into Vermont

Prosperity Partners, a private equity-backed accounting firm based in Chicago, has completed the acquisition of South Burlington, Vermont-based Danaher Attig & Plante.

DAP was founded in 2005 and offers tax advisory and compliance services to individuals, businesses, trusts, estates and other organizations, and is led by Cathy Attig and Matt Johnson.

"We couldn't be more excited to add the DAP team to Prosperity," said Jeremy Dubow, CEO and co-founder of Prosperity, in a statement. "Cathy and Matt have earned a stellar reputation in their market, built on two decades of DAP delivering the highest-quality tax services to their clients. They have a great team and a complementary service offering that will benefit the Prosperity platform."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but all of DAP's partners are expected to remain with the firm, and all of its staff will become part of Prosperity's broad employee ownership program.

"Prosperity Partners impressed us with their history of growth, dedication to building an integrated firm with scalable systems, and focus on employee and client success," said Attig, in a statement. "Prosperity is the right cultural and strategic fit for DAP and its employees; and our clients will benefit from being part of this organization as we continue to provide tax and advisory services to them at the high level of service they are accustomed to."

Prosperity Partners was formerly known as NDH Advisors before rebranding in September 2024. In May of 2023, it received private equity funding from Unity Partners; in January 2024, it added Jain & Jain PC, a firm based in Houston, and in June, it acquired McGowan Guntermann PC, a firm in Santa Barbara, California. In September of last year it completed its acquisition of Cendrowski Corporate Advisors, a Detroit-based tax, business valuation and accounting firm, and in October, it added Wiener and Garg in Rockville, Maryland.

Sensiba acquires AssuranceLab

Top 100 Firm Sensiba has acquired Australia-based cybersecurity audit and risk assurance firm AssuranceLab Pty. Ltd., deepening its capabilities in security, privacy and compliance frameworks.

Headquartered in Australia, AssuranceLab has operations worldwide, and is a Certified B Corporation, as is Sensiba.

"Both of our firms have built deep relationships with startups and technology companies — businesses that increasingly recognize how cyber threats, ESG risk and privacy concerns impact investor confidence, market relevance and talent retention in a global landscape," said John Sensiba, managing partner at Sensiba, in a statement. "AssuranceLab's technology-forward approach and entrepreneurial spirit will be central to how we continue supporting clients with the insight, scale and expertise they need for rapid growth."

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but AssuranceLab co-founders Paul Wenham and Nicholas Lew Ton are joining Sensiba as partners.