Mowery & Schoenfeld Merges in Katch Tyson

Mowery & Schoenfeld plans to combine forces with another Illinois firm, Katch, Tyson & Co., effective August 1.

The addition of the principals and accountants at Katch Tyson will create a combined staff of 44 people, making Mowery & Schoenfeld one of the Lake County area’s largest firms focusing on midsized businesses.

“They’re merging with us so we can provide business succession for their firm. We have excess capacity, a younger staff and and a wider array of service offerings that they don’t have,” said managing partner Jeffery Mowery.

Northfield, Ill.-based Katch Tyson was first organized in 1971. Partner Ronald Katch said the deal with Mowery & Schoenfeld would enable him to broaden and deepen his firm’s existing industry and functional specialization. “I’ve always been of a belief that having a firm of a reasonable size, certainly 30 or more people, is very beneficial in terms of being able to service clients properly,” said Katch. “It was obvious we weren’t going to get to that in the near term and this seemed to make a lot of sense.”

The 16 Katch Tyson principals, accountants and other staff will relocate to Mowery & Schoenfeld’s offices in Lincolnshire, Ill., and join the 28 employees there. M&A consulting firm Accounting Transition Advisors initiated the deal, but the two firms spent about six months in the latest round of talks.

Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed. However, Katch Tyson's revenue is about $2.5 million and Mowery & Schoenfeld's is about $4 million, according to Mowery.

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