Yeo & Yeo has merged in Hauswirth+Moncrief, expanding the Michigan firm’s footprint in the Detroit area.
The merger will add approximately $1.5 million in revenue to Yeo & Yeo, which last year earned just under $30 million, according to CEO John Kunitzer. As part of the deal, two partners and four staff members from Hauswirth+Moncrief will be joining Yeo & Yeo. The merger took effect on Sept. 1.
Kunitzer anticipates the deal will elevate his firm to around the 100th largest in the country. The firm is headquartered in Saginaw, Mich., and has six other offices across the state in Alma, Ann Arbor, Flint, Kalamazoo, Lansing and Midland. Hauswirth+Moncrief’s Auburn Hills office in the Detroit and Oakland County area will be Yeo & Yeo’s eighth office. Kunitzer plans to expand it further.
“We have a fair amount of clients that we already service in the Detroit market, but we didn’t have an office there,” he said. “We were looking for a firm that we could start building and adding to the clients that we have, so we picked up Hauswirth+Moncrief. They have a nice small practice, which will add to our existing clients down there, and we look to hopefully grow that market more than what we have.”
Hauswirth+Moncrief caters to small and midsize businesses in various industries, as well as high net worth clients. Jeff Hauswirth specializes in valuation and litigation support, which will complement Yeo & Yeo’s existing services in that niche. Tammy Moncrief specializes in tax services for high net worth individuals.
Allan D. Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, who advised both firms on the merger, commented, “This is big for Yeo & Yeo as it positions them on day one to significantly expand in the Detroit market. Yeo & Yeo is one of the largest firms in the state, but up until now didn’t have an established presence in Detroit. The timing of the merger was perfect, as Jeff Hauswirth and Tammy Moncrief were looking to be part of a bigger firm, but preferably one where they could have a significant leadership role in growing Detroit. Both firms’ strategies and goals were in complete alignment.”
Kunitzer plans to expand the number of people in the Auburn Hills office, which added a new staff member this week. He also hopes to expand his firm’s presence further in Michigan, although he said he is not in active discussions with other merger candidates at the moment. “One of our goals over the next few years is to add one in the Grand Rapids market in Michigan, and now that we’ve got our foothold in the Detroit market, we would look to be able to add some other Detroit firms that we can merge into that office,” he said.
