Sassetti LLC has merged in Brennan & Brosnan LLC in Naperville, Ill., effective Jan. 1, 2016, expanding Sassetti’s accounting, auditing and tax practice in the suburbs of Chicago.
As a result of the deal, Sassetti will add seven new employees, including two partners, Margaret Brennan and Betsy Brosnan. Sassetti, based in Oak Park, Ill., plans to maintain Brennan & Brosnan’s office in Naperville. Sassetti has 25 people, including five partners.
“We’re in the very near west suburbs of Chicago, in Oak Park, which is the first suburb west of Chicago,” said Sassetti managing partner Jim Robbs. “This gives us an opportunity to spread our wings a little bit further in the western suburbs, including Naperville, which is where they’re located, and further west. It moves us from Cook County, where we’re located, into DuPage County, which is a good area to be in, and it expands our capabilities. They really don’t do much in the way of assurance work, and this gives us a way to expand our assurance services, not only into their client base, but into that area.”
Brennan & Brosnan, founded in 1994, specializes in serving the tax and business advisory needs of entrepreneurial businesses and owners in the Naperville area. In 2005 the firm won the Naperville Small Business of the Year Award. It provides tax planning, tax preparation, estate planning and estate administration services to individual clients and companies in various industries.
Sassetti LLC dates back to 1921 and provides accounting, audit, tax and advisory services to middle-market businesses, both closely held and publicly traded, not-for-profit organizations, employee benefit plans and individuals.
The merger deal was brokered by Bob Lewis of the Visionary Group, who contacted Robbs “out of the blue.” Financial terms of the deal are subject to a nondisclosure agreement, but Robbs said the combined firm will have in excess of $4 million in annual revenue. Prior to the merger, his firm was earning approximately $3.4 million. The deal closed last week, but the effective date was January 1.
“It gives us a greater presence in the western suburbs, and it’s going to increase the strength of our tax services and staff,” said Robbs. “They have a strong staff—all manager level type people and above—and it gives us the opportunity to provide assurance services in the marketplace that they don’t currently offer. Whether it’s to their clients or just in the area, it gives us a presence in that western suburban area.”
This is the first merger for Sassetti, even though the firm is nearly a century old. As for further mergers down the road, Robbs said, “It’s all a function of the right time and the right place. We’re not saying no, but we don’t have anything lined up.”
He noted that Sassetti is a member of the BDO Alliance, which could provide some potential additional services and capabilities to Brennan & Brosnan’s tax clients.
