Smith + Howard completes investor flip

Top 75 Firm Smith + Howard completed a flip of investors, with private equity firm Broad Sky Partners selling its stake to TPG, an alternative asset management firm. 

TPG, based in San Francisco with $306 billion in assets under management, is investing in Smith + Howard through its middle market and growth equity platform called TPG Growth. The capital will be used to support organic growth, geographic expansion, technology investments in artificial intelligence and expanded advisory services, with a focus on acquisitions as part of the firm's growth strategy.

Howard + Smith first announced this transaction back in June. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

This deal is among the first instances of an accounting firm to "flip" investors — that is, to transfer private equity ownership from one group to another. In January 2025, Citrin Cooperman announced it would receive an investment from Blackstone, which would acquire a majority stake in the firm from New Mountain Capital. Then in March of this year, EisnerAmper completed a continuation vehicle transaction with its private equity investor, TowerBrook Capital Partners — a move that represented the equivalent of a flip, but instead of selling its stake to another investor, TowerBrook held onto it. Notably, this flip moves Smith + Howard from a private equity investor to an alternative asset management investor rather than to another PE firm. 

"We are grateful for Broad Sky Partners' partnership," Smith + Howard CEO Sean Taylor said in a statement. "Broad Sky helped accelerate our transformation through meaningful investments in leadership, technology, AI-enabled capabilities and an offshore delivery center in India. With their support, Smith + Howard has become a leading national accounting and advisory platform with the operational infrastructure, exceptional talent and technology to keep compounding our growth in the years ahead."

Smith + Howard, based in Atlanta, ranked No. 66 on Accounting Today's 2026 Top 100 Firms list. It reported $124 million in revenue, with 62 partners and 800 employees across 11 offices. During Broad Sky's three-and-a-half year investment, Smith + Howard's revenue grew four times and completed nine acquisitions.

"The Smith + Howard investment is emblematic of BSP's integrated investor-operator model: working alongside exceptional management teams to build scaled platforms in attractive essential services sectors," Tyler Zachem, CEO and partner at Broad Sky Partners, said in a statement. "We're proud of the growth Smith + Howard has achieved through our shared strategic plan, and the company is exceptionally well positioned for its next phase with TPG."

This sale marks New York City-based Broad Sky's first exit since its launch in 2021.