Spotlight
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The martinwolf team tracks noteworthy mergers and acquisitions, and offers
commentary on issues that impact our industry.
August 02,2021
TowerBrook Capital Partners Makes Strategic Investment in EisnerAmper LLP
Transaction Details
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TowerBrook Capital Partners, an international investment management firm, has made a strategic investment in EisnerAmper, one of the largest professional services firms in the world, offering premier accounting, tax and business advisory services.
- The firm will now operate two divisions: EisnerAmper LLP, a licensed CPA firm, will provide attest services; and Eisner Advisory Group LLC, will provide business advisory and non-attest services.
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EisnerAmper’s 207 partners voted unanimously to approve the deal.
- Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
martinwolf Analysis
- Mid-Market Movement: While IT acquisitions among the Big Four have become frequent, mid-market firms are beginning to follow a similar model. EisnerAmper acquired ZenTek Data Systems in July of 2021. Expect to see EisnerAmper and comparable firms be much more active in M&A in order to keep pace with more integrated industry giants.
- Accounting and IT: Professional services firms have in recent years been especially interested in acquiring adjacent IT services companies to expand beyond their core accounting functions and accelerate their growth. For example, Ernst and Young acquired martinwolf client Global Analytics, its first IT company, in 2010. It hasn’t slowed down since, acquiring five technology companies in the last nine months alone.
- Private Equity Powered: Private equity backing provides the resources and knowledge for EisnerAmper to increase the pace of its growth. The firm will likely be looking to expand by acquiring other accounting firms and services such as CRM, digital transformation and business intelligence. According to TowerBrook Managing Director Walter Weil, the company is not only looking for strategic M&A opportunities, but further investments in technology as well.
For more information about this transaction, click here to read the press release from EisnerAmper.
martinwolf was not the advisor in this transaction.
