EY adds Headwaters

Ernst & Young said Thursday that Headwaters SC, LP and its Family Enterprise Business Services practice are joining EY.

Headwaters founder James C. Bly, Jr. will serve as an executive director at EY and will be bringing the rest of his seven-person team. He founded Headwaters in 1982 to help family businesses grow and transition to the next generation. Most of HWSC’s clients are multigenerational family businesses.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EY ranked 3rd on Accounting Today’s 2017 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $12.2 billion in annual revenue.

“The addition of the FEBS team from HWSC reflects EY’s ongoing commitment to family businesses and family offices that represent an incredibly important segment of our economy and drive opportunities in communities across the country,” said EY Americas vice chair of tax services Kate Barton in a statement. “Jim and his team have deep experience with these companies and the unique opportunities and challenges they face. The HWSC team is going to be a great addition to our Private Client Services practice and our EY Global Family Business Center of Excellence.”

Bly has advised the principal owners of hundreds of businesses on wealth building and transitions He also co-founded the Business Growth Alliance, an international network of professional service firms that helps owners of private companies.

“By joining EY, we will be able to deliver cross-border, multi-disciplinary services to enterprising families and family offices that own and control operating businesses and operating assets, in a way and on a scale that was not previously available in the market,” Bly said in a statement. “We have carefully planned this transition during the past couple of years, as it stemmed from a joint vision and passion for serving enterprising families as well as a purpose-driven mindset and shared interest in building a better working world. I am proud of what we have accomplished at HWSC over the last 35 years, and my team and I are excited to further build that legacy with EY.”

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