While private equity is underpinning the growth ambitions of many mid-sized practices, other types of deals are still making a mark in the market.
Much of the ‘deal chatter’ in the market revolves around PE-backed consolidation and ambitious growth plans. At the start of April we saw PE-backed BKL join forces with City of London firm Wilson Wright. However, at the same time, there are still agreements being made without equity-based backing in place.
There are several examples in just the last couple of weeks. Bristol-based Dunkley’s merged with local firm Gillespie’s, with the latter moving into the Dunkley’s Woodland Grange office.
Then you have top 20 firm MHA. It merged MHA Moore and Smalley into its fold.
Gillespie’s is a relatively new firm, having formed in 2009, but a deal that gives its five staff and client base access to a broader offering – with the new outfit numbering 60 people.
The MHA deal is on a different scale and timeline: MHA Moore and Smalley has been a founding member of the MHA network since 2010 – and so its merger with MHA has followed 14 years of relationship-building.
There is no doubt that building a critical mass for your firm is important – it opens up opportunities for the practice to be more flexible in how it operates. But there are ways of doing so without handing over equity to an external party.
Keith Underwood is MD of Foulger Underwood. If you’d like to chat to us about your develoing your practice then please get in touch by clicking here
Source:all Accountancy Daily – Dunkley’s Chartered Accountants signs deal with Gillespie’s; BKL merges with Wilson Wright to create top 30 firm; MHA expands with MHA Moore and Smalley merger