Prosperity Partners has completed its first flip, as private equity group Lightyear Capital has made a majority investment in the Chicago-based tax, client accounting, and transaction support services firm, while Unity Partners maintains a minority stake.
Financial terms of the transaction, which was announced on Tuesday, weren’t disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.
Prosperity is at least the third accounting firm that has flipped private equity investors in the last 18 months. Majority ownership of top 20 firm Citrin Cooperman was transferred from New Mountain Capital to Blackstone in January 2025. And last month, top 100 firm Smith + Howard announced that TPG, a global alternative asset management firm, signed a definitive agreement to make what officials say is a “significant” investment in the Atlanta-based accounting firm, which received an initial investment from Broad Sky Partners in 2022.
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Founded in 2003 as NDH Advisors by three Arthur Andersen alums, Prosperity received its first equity investment from Unity Partners, a Dallas-based private equity firm, in 2023. Since then, the firm has grown into a national platform delivering tax advisory, client accounting, and transaction support services to high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and entrepreneurial businesses nationwide.
Prosperity now has more than 250 employees across 10 offices in the U.S.
Launched concurrently with Unity’s initial investment in Prosperity, the Prosperity Employee Purpose Plan, a broad-based employee ownership program, will distribute nearly $18 million in proceeds across the employee base, according to a media release. Lightyear and Prosperity have agreed to continue an employee ownership program for qualifying employees.
“As we enter our next stage of growth supported by the outstanding Lightyear team, we are eager to pursue our lofty strategic goals and to continue to provide premier services to high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and closely held businesses,” Jeremy Dubow, CEO and co-founder of Prosperity, said in a statement on July 14. “With significant employee growth and enhancements to key processes, systems, and services, I am extremely proud of everything we have achieved alongside Unity Partners and am ecstatic for our employees to reap the rewards of our Employee Purpose Plan.”
“We thank Jeremy and the team for all we accomplished together over the past three years, from completing nine strategic add-ons, expanding service lines, and making significant investments in technology and offshoring to rebranding as Prosperity Partners to better capture the company’s mission and purpose,” added Peter Cozzi, investment team lead at Unity Partners, which announced an investment in Cleveland-based top 200 firm Meaden & Moore earlier this month. “It is wonderful to see Prosperity’s outstanding team rewarded for their hard work and dedication through the Employee Purpose Plan, and we look forward to Prosperity’s continued growth and success.”
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Founded more than 25 years ago, New York City-based Lightyear had assets under management of approximately $8.1 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.
“Prosperity operates in a growth market, is a differentiated company with highly recurring revenue and outstanding client relationships, and is run by an impressive leadership team. The company has developed a specialized model delivering sophisticated advice to a highly-desirable client base, positioning itself as a leader in the fast-growing high-net-worth advisory market,” Lightyear partner Jay Comerford said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Jeremy, the entire Prosperity team, and Unity to help drive continued growth through investments in talent, best-in-class automation and technology solutions, and strategic M&A.”
Allan Koltin, founder of Koltin Consulting Group Inc., who advised Prosperity on the transaction, added in a statement, “Prosperity, one of the first accounting firms to partner with private equity, in just over three years, has grown from a small, sophisticated tax business into a national platform offering a full suite of services to an incredible client base. The partnership with Lightyear will elevate Prosperity’s brand and position it to be one of the best accounting, tax, and advisory businesses in the country. From their initial meeting, it was clear that Prosperity and Lightyear were aligned on their strategic goals and would be incredible partners.”
When private equity entered the accounting profession approximately five years ago, Koltin’s firm was engaged to do strategic planning for Prosperity, then known as NDH. Koltin explored upstream merger opportunities with NDH, but the only option at that time was for NDH to become the Chicago office of a national firm.
“Jeremy and his partners felt the ‘best was yet to come’ and they wanted to ‘drive the ship.’ Unfortunately, at that time (2022) the only PE firms talking to the accounting profession were the largest ones in the country and they only wanted to speak to the Top 25 CPA firms,” Koltin wrote in an email to CPA Practice Advisor.
Then, according to Koltin, a “miracle” happened. “Unity Partners was a new, young, and entrepreneurial PE firm, and they were looking not for a heavyweight ($300 million in revenues or greater) but rather a ‘welterweight’ (a firm with $10 million in revenues or a little larger) and Prosperity was the perfect fit! It was love at first sight and they got ‘married’ 100 days later.”
In the three years since that deal was consummated, Prosperity has become one of the accounting profession’s fastest-growing, private equity-owned CPA firms and is now over $80 million in revenues. It also ranks in the “upper echelon” when it comes to firm profitability, Koltin said.
Similar to Unity Partners, the “courtship” with Lightyear was another “rocket ship romance,” Koltin wrote.
“It’s a Cinderella (Unity Partners) and Disney (Lightyear Capital) story all in one!” he added.
Guggenheim Securities LLC served as lead financial advisor to Prosperity and Unity, with Koltin Consulting Group serving as an additional financial adviser to both parties. Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel for Prosperity, and Davis Polk served as legal counsel for Lightyear.
Photo caption: Prosperity Partners CEO and co-founder Jeremy Dubow
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