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A new top 10 firm? Two top 15 firms band together
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Two of the nation’s top 15 accounting firms have joined forces with the completion of CBIZ’s acquisition of Marcum LLP.
According to a news release, CBIZ has acquired the nonattest business of Marcum, and CBIZ CPAs has acquired Marcum’s attest business. CBIZ CPAs (formerly Mayer Hoffman McCann) is a national independent CPA firm with a long-standing administrative service agreement with CBIZ.
The acquisitions create an expected combined annualized revenue of approximately $2.8 billion, which could vault CBIZ into the top seven accounting firms based on 2023 revenue.
“Now, with over 10,000 team members, we will offer our clients an enhanced breadth of services and depth of expertise unmatched in our industries all aimed at helping them grow their business,” Jerry Grisko, president and CEO of CBIZ, said in the news release. “With even deeper subject matter expertise, industry resources, service lines, and insights, we can provide actionable advice and new and innovative data-driven products and solutions.”
When the firms announced a definitive agreement over the summer, Jeffrey Weiner, Marcum’s chairman and CEO, said: “By joining forces, we will capitalize on our strengths and leverage our similar models to bring more diversified services and even greater subject matter expertise to our clients and attract new business. We both have a proven track record of growth through successful acquisitions, and we are excited to bring these two best-in-class organizations together.”
Before the acquisition, CBIZ & MHM ranked 11th in revenue in 2023 at $1.42 billion, while Marcum ranked 13th at $1.33 billion. Grant Thornton, which struck a major private-equity deal earlier this year, ranked seventh in 2023 revenue at $2.36 billion.
Private-equity interest in large firms continues. In the last month, Armanino struck a deal, and Cohen & Co. recently did the same.
— To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@aicpa-cima.com.
