Top 50 accounting firm Cohen & Co. said on March 6 that it has acquired Tassi and Company, a Deer Park, IL-based boutique accounting and consulting firm that provides services tailored to the real estate industry.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. The transaction, expected to close at the end of March, enhances Cohen’s national real estate service offering and expands the firm’s presence in the Chicago market.
Part of a longer succession plan for Tassi and Company, all of the firm’s professionals are expected to join Cohen when the transaction closes. This includes founder and principal Joe Tassi, senior director Terri Nietzel, and senior director Gretchen Sampson, who will be joining Cohen as partners. The team will remain in its current Deer Park office space. Combined with Cohen’s existing downtown Loop location, Chicago becomes one of the Cleveland-based firm’s largest geographic markets.
“We are excited to welcome Tassi and Company to our firm,” Cohen & Co. CEO Chris Bellamy said in a statement. “The real estate and construction industry is an important growth area and one that we’ve made a priority for investment. This transaction will provide additional expertise and scale for the benefit of our clients, as well as new career path opportunities for employees of both firms.”
Founded by Joe Tassi in 1990, Tassi and Company has approximately 35 employees and serves real estate owners, developers, managers, and investors. Specifically, the firm provides outsourced fund and partnership accounting, property management and development accounting, construction draw accounting, and tax services.
“Cohen & Co. shares our core cultural and entrepreneurial philosophies rooted in client service and taking care of our people,” Joe Tassi said. “This is the natural next step for our firm as we plan for our future. We are impressed with Cohen & Co. and are confident our clients and teammates will benefit from their leadership and strategic vision.”
Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP served as legal counsel to Cohen, while Creative Planning LLC served as legal counsel to Tassi and Company.
Late last year, Cohen announced that it had received a strategic growth investment from Lovell Minnick Partners, a private equity firm focused on investments in financial services, business services, and financial technology companies.
As a result of the private equity deal, Cohen now operates in an alternative practice structure. Cohen & Co. Ltd., a licensed CPA firm, will provide attest services, while Cohen & Co. Advisory LLC, not a licensed CPA firm, will provide business tax, advisory, and other non-attest services. Although separately owned and governed, the two entities will both use Cohen & Co. as their brand name.
The firm’s most recent acquisition was Cleveland-based Tax and Wealth Management Inc., which closed in January of this year.
Thanks for reading CPA Practice Advisor!
Subscribe Already registered? Log In
Need more information? Read the FAQs
