Andersen Global, the revived follow-up to the defunct Big Five firm Arthur Andersen, is widening its footprint across the U.S. after rapid expansion over the past decade abroad, adding 45 professionals in Orange County, California, Des Moines, Iowa, and Pittsburgh.
The firm added partners and professionals from Rickmeyer & Associates in Irvine, California; Vertical Advisors in Newport Beach, California; Hamilton Juffer & Associates and HJN Advisors in Des Moines; and Chemel Kornick & Mooney in Pittsburgh. However, it doesn't view the additions as mergers or acquisitions of those firms.
"This is not an acquisition," said Dan DePaoli, U.S. country managing director for Andersen Global, in an email. "Instead, the partners and professionals from Chemel Kornick, Hamilton Juffer + Associates, HJN Advisors, Rickmeyer and Associates, and Vertical Advisors have joined as managing directors and employees of Andersen Tax LLC."
The new Orange County professionals will join Andersen's office in Costa Mesa, while the teams in Des Moines and Pittsburgh will be a part of the Chicago Metro and New York Metro practices, respectively. They will deepen Andersen's expertise in serving high-net-worth individuals, families, and businesses across a range of industries, including real estate, manufacturing, construction, professional services, hospitality, entertainment, technology, retail, financial planning and agriculture.
Their former firms will no longer be operating under their old names. "The partners and employees of these firms are now personnel of Andersen Tax LLC, the founding member firm of Andersen Global, and will serve clients under the Andersen brand," said DePaoli.
Financial terms of the deals were not disclosed.
Andersen has been growing rapidly over the past decade, reviving the Arthur Andersen brand after the old firm collapsed in the wake of the accounting scandals of the early 2000s involving former audit clients like Enron and WorldCom. The revived Andersen began by offering tax services, but later branched out into legal services and more, but has avoided getting involved in the audit profession.
Former Andersen partner Mark Vorsatz and a group of 22 other former Andersen partners founded WTAS (short for Wealth and Tax Advisory Services USA Inc.) in 2002. As CEO, Vorsatz later renamed the firm Andersen Tax in 2014 after acquiring the trademarks and copyrights from Arthur Andersen LLP and Andersen Worldwide (see
"Over the last 10 years, we've been intensely focused on expanding our global platform to serve as a one-stop-shop for our clients, and these strategic additions in the U.S. enable us to continue to meet the growing tax, valuation and financial advisory needs of our clients stateside," said Vorsatz, who currently serves as Andersen Global chairman and Andersen CEO, in a statement Wednesday. "In addition to being accretive to one another's current capabilities, each of these groups is a strong cultural fit and we are fortunate to welcome them to the Andersen family."
Andersen does not plan to offer audit services at the firm. "Andersen does not have an attest function as part of our service offering," said DePaoli. "This is consistent with our core values and our commitment to providing independent and objective service and advice for clients, and we continue to view this as a key differentiator in the marketplace."
Andersen is planning on expanding further in the U.S.
"Our expansion is driven by the commitment to providing seamless, multidisciplinary, best-in-class service for Andersen clients," said DePaoli. "That requires attracting and retaining top talent in the U.S., as part of Andersen Tax LLC, and globally. We will continue to grow strategically through the addition of individuals and groups inside and outside the U.S. to enhance our multidisciplinary platform and to have top-quality resources, services and solutions available to our clients wherever they are and need us to be."
