Cherry Bekaert, a Top 25 Firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina, has acquired Spicer Jeffries LLP, a Denver-based firm with an extensive business in fund audits.
Spicer Jeffries' clients include hedge funds, private equity firms, venture capital firms, commodity funds, mutual funds, registered broker dealers, investment advisors and other investment entities. The firm ranks among the
The deal, which closed in March but was announced Tuesday, marks a major expansion of Cherry Bekaert's financial services footprint as part of its private equity-fueled growth strategy.
The acquisition expands Cherry Bekaert's geographic coverage to the Rocky Mountain region, including Denver. It also provides Cherry Bekaert the ability to audit funds registered with the Cayman Islands Monetary Authority through Spicer Jeffries' affiliated firm, Spicer Jeffries (Cayman) Ltd.
"This is a transaction that we're super excited about," said Scott Moss, leader of private equity advisory services at Cherry Bekaert. "It's a little bit different than some of the other transactions we've done, but it very much fits within our overall growth strategy. What makes it different is this is a core audit and tax firm, but they have been almost exclusively focused on a single industry: the asset management or fund audit and tax world, which includes things like hedge funds, private equity funds, venture capital funds, credit funds, broker dealers, family offices and the like."
Financial terms of the latest deal were not disclosed. Cherry Bekaert ranked No. 20 on
"They've been around for roughly 30 years," said Moss. "The original founder is still active in the firm, so we looked at it as a great opportunity to combine our talents and our practices in our broader financial services arena, which for us will include financial institutions, banks and credit unions, insurance entities, the asset management sector, and our private equity space."
The two firms have been working on the transaction for the past 10 to 12 months. "Joining Cherry Bekaert is a significant step forward for us," said Spicer Jeffries founder and managing partner Robert Yurglich in a statement Tuesday. "We are thrilled to bring our specialized industry knowledge to a firm that values growth and investor confidence. This partnership presents exciting growth opportunities for our people and enhances the value and services we provide to our clients."
As is typical for private equity funded accounting firms that operate in alternative practice structures, the transaction consists of two acquisitions: Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC acquired Spicer Jeffries LLP's non-attest assets, which includes its tax team, while Cherry Bekaert LLP will acquire Spicer Jeffries LLP's attest assets, which includes its audit team.
"This acquisition underscores our commitment to the financial services industry," said Cherry Bekaert Advisory LLC CEO Michelle Thompson in a statement. "We value the relationships Spicer Jeffries has built with their clients, fund administrators, attorneys and other members in the investment community. We are excited to grow together."
Moss sees it as an outgrowth of the PE-fueled growth strategy. "It's really the culmination of some initiatives that we put in place about four years ago, when we looked around and said, we built a heck of a firm, very successful in serving private equity funds, but heavily focused on the advisory side," he said. "We looked at our competition in the marketplace. A lot of the competition was trying to get into the advisory side, but they had built their success in the fund audit and tax arena. We look at this as a balancing out of the service lines within our overall fund and financial services sector."
