Cochran, Head & Co. PC in Kansas City, Kan., will merge with the smaller Prestia Vick & Associates LLC based in Kansas City, Mo.
Both firms expect the deal to close this June, although a final decision on a combined name has yet to be made. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Managing partner of Prestia Vick, Bud Vick, said in published reports that the decision to merge was driven to meet regulatory requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Managing partner of Cochran Head, David Cochran, told the Kansas City Business Journal that he and Vick hadn't made a final decision on who would run the new firm and were waiting for accountancy boards in the two states to approve the deal and a new name.
The combined firm will have about 50 employees and offices on both sides of the state line in the Kansas City region. Cochran Head & Co. has six offices in the Kansas City area and about 45 employees, according to its Web site.
Cochran told the local business journal that the firms' services are complementary. Cochran Head, founded in 1975, focuses on work local and state governments, as well as providing employee-benefit plan consulting. Prestia Vick, founded in 1994, offers traditional accounting services -- including in the real estate, broker-dealer, construction, estate and trust niches -- as well performing audit work for midmarket companies.