Withum Merges in Fried & Kowgios Partners

WithumSmith+Brown PC has combined with Fried & Kowgios Partners, a CPA firm that specializes in servicing theatrical productions, expanding Withum’s footprint in New York City, particularly behind the footlights.

The deal took effect on August 1 but was formally announced this week. Phil Whitman and Barry Wagman of Whitman Business Advisors facilitated the transaction.

Fried & Kowgios Partners, also known as FK Partners, provides tax, accounting, audit, and consulting services, mainly to commercial and not-for-profit theatrical clients in the U.S. and abroad. The firm offers theatrical and entertainment companies, along with their producers, general managers and lawyers, services to help them operate more effectively.

“We are excited about joining forces with Withum,” said FK Partners co-managing partner Karen Kowgios in a statement. “Since our inception in 2003, our primary focus has been to provide the best possible technical and personal service to our clients in the theatrical industry. This union enhances our ability to pursue this objective by offering our clients access to Withum’s significant breadth and depth of resources, giving us the opportunity to continue to even more effectively serve as a trusted advisor.”

Withum, based in Princeton, N.J., ranked 32nd on Accounting Today’s 2016 list of the Top 100 Firms. The regional CPA and consulting firm has 14 offices, 800 staff members and annual revenue of $140 million. Earlier this month, the firm also merged in McGuigan Tombs & Company in New Jersey (see Withum Merges in McGuigan Tombs).

“We are thrilled to have the staff from FK Partners come on board,” says Michael Stallone, partner in charge of Withum’s New York City office. “Their expertise in serving clients in the theatrical industry will nicely augment our current commercial and not-for-profit practice areas.”

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