Mazars, an international audit and advisory firm headquartered in Paris, France, has expanded beyond its Mazars USA base in New York and established a Mazars North America Alliance in partnership with BKD, Dixon Hughes Goodman, Moss Adams, Plante Moran in the U.S. and MNP in Canada.

The alliance positions Mazars more strongly against the Big Four firms in the U.S. and Canada, while giving its international clients access to an additional 16,000 accounting professionals from some of the top firms in North America. Mazars first entered the U.S. by merging with Weiser LLP in 2010 to form WeiserMazars, inheriting a number of New York business clients, including longtime client, Donald Trump. The firm changed its name to Mazars USA in 2010. This year, it has found itself embroiled in lawsuits between Democrats in Congress and Trump’s lawyers over access to his businesses’ accounting records.

The deal with BKD, Dixon Hughes Goodman, Moss Adams, Plante Moran and MNP gives Mazars a chance to get some non-Trump-related publicity while building its presence in the U.S. The firm already has around 24,000 professionals working for it around the world, and the alliance with BKD, Dixon Hughes Goodman, Moss Adams, Plante Moran and MNP will expand that total to approximately 40,000, while giving Mazars full national coverage across North America. Most of Mazars USA’s offices are on the East and West Coast.

“This Alliance agreement is a game-changer for Mazars,” said Mazars Group CEO and Chairman Hervé Hélias in a statement. “We are already present in the U.S. and Canada and the Alliance significantly strengthens our capability across North America, enabling us to better serve our international clients in the region. The Alliance increases our ability to serve our international clients around the world.”

He particularly hopes to compete better for audit clients with the Big Four. “In a highly concentrated audit and advisory sector, this Alliance provides an alternative,” said Hélias. “We have a long history of working with these five firms and share the same values of quality, ethics and professionalism. All five firms are registered with the PCAOB (the body overseeing the audits of public companies in the U.S.) and through the Mazars North America Alliance they will contribute to the quality and expertise that our large clients expect throughout North America. With Mazars North America Alliance, Mazars strengthens its critical scale to meet the needs of large international companies, at a time when mandatory rotation of audit firms is taking place in Europe and where the debate on the implementation of joint audit is relevant in the U.K.”

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