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The US accounting firm Marcum, which audits more US-listed companies than any firm outside the Big Four, has agreed a takeover by CBiz, America’s only publicly traded accountancy, in a new twist on the consolidation wave sweeping the profession.
CBiz said on Wednesday it would pay $2.3bn for Marcum, about half in cash and half in stock, and the combined group would become the seventh-largest US accounting firm with revenues of $2.8bn annually.
Marcum audits more than 400 US public companies, according to Ideagen Audit Analytics, giving it a market share of 6 per cent. That includes scores of special purpose acquisition companies, a focus of the firm, which contributed significant revenues through the Spac boom of the past four years but also brought controversy. Regulators last year fined Marcum $13mn for quality failures related to its Spac work.
This is a developing story