California’s Pohl, McNabola, Berg & Co. announced that it has merged with Texas firm Helin, Donovan, Trubee & Wilkinson LLP in a deal effective Jan. 1.The combined firm, which will operate under the name PMB Helin Donovan LLP, will have a dozen partners and approximately 65 total staff in the two states.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Discussions for what the firm called a “merger of equals,” started about a year ago, when San Francisco-based partner Michael Berg, and Austin, Texas-based partner Tom Donovan meet at a gathering for the Russell Bedford International accounting network. At a hotel bar in Mexico City, the two men realized that they came from similar professional backgrounds, and that their firms shared a philosophy of client service that included direct partner involvement in all engagements.
Helin, Donovan, Trubee & Wilkinson was founded as a regional Texas accounting firm a decade ago by Wallace F. Helin. Donovan joined Helin in early 2001 to extend the service range into financial audits, while corporate tax specialist Norman Trubee, came onboard the same year. Tom Wilkinson soon joined as a partner, bringing additional audit and consulting experience.
PMB & Co. has followed a similar path; and in addition to Berg, firm partners include M. Tony Pohl, Noel McNabola, Nancy Peck and S. Sam Berde. Berg has been a CPA since 1981, before starting his own firm more than 15 years ago.
PMB Helin Donovan will specialize in providing audit and tax services to companies in the financial services, technology, entertainment and energy industries, as well as providing services to midsized businesses, registrants with the Securities and Exchange Commission, government and nonprofit entities. Donovan said that more than half of the firm’s professional services include tax returns for high-net-worth individuals and the related businesses. The combined client list includes over 200 audit clients and over 1,000 tax clients.
The firm also specializes in individual taxation work and will maintain offices in Dallas, Houston and Austin, Texas, as well as in San Francisco and Orange County, Calif.
PMB Helin Donovan’s Web site will go online later this month at
