Baker Tilly to acquire U.K. ERP consulting firm

Baker Tilly US LLP plans to acquire Vanilla, an enterprise resource planning consulting firm based in the United Kingdom, effective May 1.

The Chicago-based firm already has a presence in the U.K. through its membership in the Baker Tilly International network, which is based in London. The acquisition will entrench the firm deeper in the market and adds digital advisory services in ERP to its local capabilities. Vanilla, based in Brigg in North Lincolnshire, England, works with the IFS enterprise software company and is an IFS Gold Channel Partner and 2021 Channel Partner of the Year. It provides implementation, sales, support and consulting services to help businesses adopt IFS Cloud applications in the areas of ERP, service management and enterprise asset management. Together, Baker Tilly and Vanilla plan to provide advanced digital advisory services to businesses looking to transform their ERP systems.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Baker Tilly ranked No. 9 on Accounting Today’s newly released 2022 list of the Top 100 Firms. The firm earned $1.15 billion in annual revenue, while Vanilla had $11.6 million in annual revenue in 2021. Baker Tilly has 6,000 professionals, including 500 partners, while Vanilla has 95 professionals.

Scott McDonald

“In one move, we become a key partner of IFS, one of the leading enterprise resource management systems in its class,” said Angela MacPhee, managing partner of consulting for Baker Tilly, in a statement Tuesday. “Vanilla’s incredible talent and market reputation expands the solution possibilities for Baker Tilly clients and vice versa.”

Vanilla will work with the Baker Tilly Digital practice. “We can offer our clients so much more, now with Baker Tilly’s resources and scale,” said Vanilla director and co-founder Andy Bell in a statement. “With the firm’s mission and strategy, we recognized instantly what the two of us could build together.”

Baker Tilly has been expanding its consulting services with other recent M&A deals. Last month, Baker Tilly acquired Orchestra Healthcare, a health care IT professional services and consulting firm based in West Palm Beach, Florida. Last November, Baker Tilly acquired The Compliance Group, a nationwide mortgage compliance and quality control organization based in Carlsbad, California, as well as the MFA Companies, a Boston-based accounting and advisory firm. Earlier in the year, the firm acquired Arnett Carbis Toothman LLP in West Virginia, as well as AcctTwo, a Houston-based technology and services company, along with Margolin, Winer & Evens, a Regional Leader firm in New York.