Virginia
Brown Edwards acquires Dixon Hughes Goodman’s Newport News practice
Details: Brown Edwards is acquiring the Newport News, Virginia, practice of Dixon Hughes Goodman, effective Oct. 31, 2018.
As part of the deal, two DHG partners, Hugh Barlow and Leslie Roberts, along with most of the staff from DHG’s Newport News office, will join Brown Edwards. A significant number of DHG’s clients are also expected to make the transition.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. DHG, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, ranked 17th on Accounting Today’s 2018 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $404 million in annual revenue. Brown Edwards, based in Roanoke, Virginia, ranked 6th on the Regional Leaders list for the Capital Region, with $37.5 million in annual revenue.
Brown Edwards already provides assurance, tax and business advisory services to clients across Virginia, West Virginia and Tennessee. The Newport News office will be the seventh office in Virginia and the firm’s tenth overall. Brown Edwards already has a substantial client base in the Newport News area, so the new office will add a convenient location where the firm can serve them.
“This acquisition positions us to provide a greater depth of expertise and resources to serve our clients, especially those in the Hampton Roads area, strengthens Brown Edwards’ position as one of the largest independent CPA firms in Virginia, and expands our geographic footprint,” said Brown Edwards CEO Jason Hartman in a statement. “More importantly, we are adding well respected partners and staff who have provided high quality service and value to the region over many years. All of us have a similar client centric approach to helping our clients achieve their goals. This acquisition simply brings more resources to the table to accomplish that goal.”
Last year, Brown Edwards also acquired DHG’s Roanoke practice and the deal will enable the firm to expand its footprint to Newport News (see Brown Edwards acquires DHG’s Roanoke practice).
“We are very proud of the quality and service we have delivered to our clients over many years,” said DHG partner Hugh Barlow in a statement. “We look forward to becoming part of a growing Top 100 firm that has a strong focus on Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region. We feel this change will better allow us to continue offering comprehensive and personalized business advice tailored to our client’s needs with a local firm mindset. And, most importantly, Brown Edwards shares our philosophy of assisting our clients to grow and succeed.”
The atrium at Dixon Hughes Goodman’s headquarters in Charlotte, N.C.
Courtesy of Dixon Hughes Goodman
New York
Hecht joins LM Cohen
Details: LM Cohen Company, an audit, tax and advisory firm based in New York, has added Donald Hecht, CPA, and his staff at Hecht and Company, effective Nov. 1, 2018.
As part of the deal, Hecht will become a partner emeritus at LM Cohen. He and his staff will work out of LM Cohen’s new space on Fifth Avenue in midtown Manhattan. Hecht and Company was also located on Fifth Avenue. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
LM Cohen Company offers a variety of services across the New York metropolitan area, including audit, tax and advisory services to companies, high-net-worth individuals and family offices. Hecht and Company specializes in tax and accounting management, estates and trusts, mergers and acquisitions, and advisory services. Its clients include wholesale, manufacturing, real estate and service businesses, along with high net worth individuals.
“The Hecht team, as exemplified by its co-founding partner Donald Hecht, has a long and well-deserved reputation for providing outstanding client service,” said LM Cohen managing partner Lee M. Cohen in a statement. “We look forward to adding their accounting strengths as well as their years of experience advising clients in business and financial management to LM Cohen. Our technologically advanced, paperless office was designed to accommodate growth opportunities such as our combination with Hecht.”
Hecht looks forward to his new role at LM Cohen. “We are the trusted adviser to many clients who have been with our firm for years,” he stated. “They rely on us to listen to and understand their needs. I am confident that as a result of our joining with Lee Cohen and his company, they will continue to enjoy this same high level of expertise and support as well as growth opportunities provided by our newly combined resources.”