Deloitte to Acquire CRG Partners

Deloitte has signed an agreement to acquire CRG Partners, expanding the firm’s financial restructuring, turnaround management and bankruptcy reorganization capabilities.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Deloitte ranked in first place on Accounting Today’s 2012 list of the Top 100 Firms, with over $11.9 billion in annual revenue.

Deloitte said the acquisition would advance the firm’s position in the restructuring marketplace. CRG has been credited with helping high-profile clients such as Major League Baseball’s Texas Rangers successfully navigate through a bankruptcy and sale. The team was sold at auction in August 2010 to Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan and sports lawyer Chuck Greenberg for $385 million in cash and the assumption of about $200 million in liabilities. The firm will become part of Deloitte Financial Advisory Services.

"We are still working towards closing the transaction, but we are very pleased we have been able to get to this point and a signed agreement," said Deloitte Financial Advisory Services chief executive David Williams in an interview. "The easiest way to think about it is that we are fundamentally in the same business with the same skills, but we have created a bigger platform, both in terms of the number of practitioners and the depth and breadth of the skill set, as well as the reputation among clients, all of which are really strong assets of CRG and now a part of the combined entity."

Based in New York, CRG Partners specializes in creating value for the stakeholders of underperforming companies. In 2010, CRG Partners was the recipient of the Turnaround Management Association’s Mega Company Turnaround of the Year Award for its work with Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation.

“Deloitte shares CRG Partners’ passion for tackling complex business problems and maximizing value,” said CRG managing partner Stephen Gray. “Deloitte’s breadth of services, depth of industry experience and international reach provides CRG with the platform and vision to continue to grow a world-class restructuring practice.”

Collectively, the member firms of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited already have more than 1,000 professionals providing restructuring services and are repeatedly ranked as one of the top global non-investment bank bankruptcy advisors by The Deal.

Williams indicated the firm would continue to provide any needed restructuring services to CRG's existing clients such as the Texas Rangers and Pilgrim's Pride. "To the extent that that work is still going on, the answer is yes," he said. "All of the assets including the client relationships come over to us. Much of that work is completed already, but that gives you an idea of the types of clients we will be pursuing going forward."

Williams sees the need for such services even as the economy improves. “We’re seeing a recovery in the economy, but we’re also seeing certain sectors of the economy doing better than others,” he said. “I would still expect to see distress in some of those segments as companies come to grips with their ability to acquire financing. I often say the issue isn’t whether your business plan is good, or whether you operate the business correctly. What drives you towards this problem is the availability of cash and of capital. To the extent that they can’t get those things, there will be opportunities for a business like ours, even though the overall economy is doing much, much better.”

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