Citrin Cooperman has combined with two other accounting firms: Wlodinguer, Erk & Chanzis in New York, and Rose, Dratch & Gilbert in Springfield, N.J.
The merger with Wlodinguer, Erk & Chanzis, which became effective Monday, expands Citrin Cooperman’s music, entertainment and royalty examinations practice. The partners and staff of WEC will relocate to Citrin Cooperman’s New York City office. The deal expands the entertainment, media and sports practice to seven partners and 30 staff.
Citrin Cooperman now has more than 390 people, including 93 partners, and more than $100 million in estimated annual revenue. This is the fourth deal that the firm has announced in the past three weeks. Citrin Cooperman is currently negotiating with other CPA firms and may have additional deals to announce before year end.
WEC, which is based in New York City, specializes in providing business management and royalty examinations and administration to bands and other major recording artists, and has been in business for 20 years. WEC revenues are in excess of $3 million.
“The addition of the partners and staff of WEC provides substantial depth to our existing entertainment practice,” said Citrin Cooperman managing partner Joel Cooperman. “These professionals truly understand the business side of the music industry, and will help our clients meet their ever-changing financial issues in the entertainment industry.”
Victor Wlodinguer and Arthur Erk join Citrin Cooperman as partners. Fourteen other professionals with tax and royalty auditing experience are also joining the firm.
The other merged firm, Rose, Dratch & Gilbert PA, of West Caldwell, N.J., has joined Citrin Cooperman’s Springfield, N.J., office, effective Nov. 15. The addition of the two partners and eight staff of Rose, Dratch & Gilbert expands Citrin Cooperman’s New Jersey office to 45 partners and staff.
The business combination is the fourth for Citrin Cooperman since Nov. 1, when the firm announced that the partners and staff of Schwartz & Hofflich LLP had joined the Connecticut office, and that Joe Barbagallo and his staff have joined the Philadelphia office.
Citrin Cooperman opened its Springfield, N.J., office in 1999, and it has been a major part of the firm’s growth over the last 11 years, a period in which firm revenues increased from $18 million to its current level of over $100 million with the two latest mergers. Citrin Cooperman is based in New York City and also has offices in White Plains, N.Y, Norwalk, Conn., and Philadelphia, Pa.
