Birmingham, Ala. (Dec. 10, 2003) -- Tidwell DeWitt, an eight-partner firm based here, has expanded into Atlanta with the merger of Geeslin, Cordle, Johnson & Wetherington LLP into its fold.
The deal, effective Jan. 1, will create a combined firm with revenues in excess of $6 million, 12 partners and roughly 60 employees, according to Tidwell DeWitt chief executive Barry Tidwell. Geeslin Cordle’s four partners and 13 employees will all join Tidwell DeWitt.
“At the end of the day, it’s about providing specialty services and more resources to clients to help them improve their profitability,” said Tidwell. “The days of being a five- or 10-man CPA firm are behind us. You can’t provide clients the services they need by being a generalist. You need to be able to bring specialists to the table, and that takes numbers and resources.”
“Initially, what we were talking about was using our location and doing some joint work together. The more we talked, the more it looked like it made sense to merge,” said GCJW partner Robert Cordle. “They brought expertise to the table we didn’t have, particularly in the business valuation and mergers and acquisitions areas. And we brought a strong compliance-oriented practice. We have a strong tax practice as well as a strong audit practice and a sizeable wealth management and estate tax planning area.”
GCJW has offices in Noonan and Peachtree City and revenue of about $2 million. GCJW employees will stay in their offices, and the merged firm will open a third location in midtown Atlanta early next year.
Tidwell DeWitt, which now has 35 employees and roughly $3.8 million in revenue, specializes in succession planning, M&A, estate planning and real estate. The firm was formed about a year and a half ago by the 2002 merger of Birmingham-based Tidwell Mason & Thomas Cos. and Tuscaloosa-based DeWitt & Dyer.
Tidwell said the firm is also looking at expanding into New Orleans, and Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla.
-- Melissa Klein
