Virchow Adds Another Chicago Firm

Continuing on its merger tear throughout the Midwest, regional powerhouse CPA and business advisory firm Virchow Krause & Co. will merge with Oak Brook, Ill.-based William Gurrie & Co. Ltd.

Terms of the union, which becomes effective June 1, were not disclosed.

Gurrie, a Windy City institution in the government and non-profit sectors since 1934, generates revenues of roughly $5 million.

"Chicago is a major focus area for Virchow Krause," chief executive Tim Christen told WebCPA. "This is really a continuation of our success story."

News of the Gurrie merger comes just one month after VK announced a merger with Farmington, Mich.-based Kleiman, Carney & Greenbaum, and 22 months after it absorbed another Chicago firm, KGN Financial, which added 12 partners and $11 million in revenue.

Gurrie president Tim Cole explained that merger talks between the two firms began last August. "[Virchow understands] our little part of the world," he said. "They're in it for the long run."

Following the completion of the merger, Chuck Cedergren, managing partner of VK's Public Sector Practice, will relocate to Chicago from VK's headquarters in Madison, Wis.

The combination will boost VK's government and non-profit unit staff to roughly 130.

Steve Levin will serve as the managing partner in Chicago for the downtown location as well as the Gurrie location Oak Brook.

"Mergers are getting to be much more strategic -- it's finding the famous firm in the marketplace and bringing them home," said Allan Koltin, president and chief executive of PDI Global, who brokered the merger. "Once [Gurrie] made the decision to merge, they felt that Virchow was the best firm to do that with."

Ranked No. 17 on Accounting Today's 2006 Top 100 Firms, Virchow Krause generated $150.4 million in annual revenues last year.

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