Aprio LLP, a Top 50 Firm based in Atlanta, said Tuesday it will be combining with Aronson LLC, a Top 75 Firm based in Rockville, Maryland, effective Jan. 1, 2023, expanding Aprio's footprint in the D.C. area in its biggest M&A deal to date.
The merger will expand Aprio's national presence and services, particularly in the government contracting, nonprofit and construction industries. The firm plans to build upon its growth over the past decade by establishing national practices in major markets across nine industry segments with Aronson's capabilities, and plans on expanding to the Midwest with further growth on the West Coast and in other major markets. Aprio will begin serving Aronson's D.C.- based clients in the areas of cybersecurity, staffing, data analytics, wealth management and private client services, as well as its global business experience in areas such as real estate, technology, manufacturing and more.
"About 70% of the type of clients that they're serving are going to be new entry points or new markets for Aprio, like contracting, nonprofits, and a much more significant construction practice that Aprio will be able to now serve nationally across our 15 offices," said Aprio CEO and managing partner Richard Kopelman. "Aronson is going to be leveraging things from Aprio, like wealth management, our specialty tax areas, and some of our advisory services that do not overlap with theirs."
The merger will give Aprio a bigger national presence and over $325 million in combined revenue. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Aronson will add approximately 350 team members, including 42 partners, and approximately $75 million in revenue. Aprio ranked No. 35 on Accounting Today's 2022 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $171 million in annual revenue and approximately 750 employees, including 85 partners. Aronson ranked No. 74.
Aronson managing partner Larry Davis will join Aprio as a partner, as will newly elected managing partner Lexy Kessler, who will serve as Mid-Atlantic regional leader for the combined firm.
"Both Aronson and Aprio's missions are to invest in clients' success by investing in our own, and this merger achieves just that, creating the complete client experience and expanding opportunities for our team," said Davis in a statement. "Through this strategic combination, we are gaining scale and depth but will continue to serve entrepreneur-led businesses. We will significantly grow our platform to help our clients in more areas."
Both began the integration process about a month ago.
"Lexy is a fixture at the AICPA Major Firms Group meetings and is just a great leader," said Kopelman. "I'm very much looking forward to working with her and a number of other folks. A number of their people and executives are going to be taking material leadership roles in the combined business, including our chief practice officer and our CTO, as well as our head of learning and development."
The two firms share a number of similarities and have been working together for a number of years. "When you look at both firms, the roots of the firms are very similar," said Kopelman. "I often have said that with both groups of partners, the genetic makeup is very much the same. Our client bases are very similar, but we're serving different kinds of segments. We found a lot of cultural alignment because the histories of the firm are very similar. They're celebrating their 60th year in business and we're celebrating our 70th."
"This has been a very deep four-year relationship that we've developed together," he added. "We've been serving mutual clients together for at least four years and have done a lot of business together."
