Top 10 accounting firm Grant Thornton said Aug. 19 it will acquire Stax, a Boston-based strategy consulting firm specializing in commercial due diligence, value creation, and exit-planning services for private equity organizations, as well as their portfolio companies and advisors.
Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Stax’s approximately 300 team members will join Grant Thornton Advisors when the transaction closes, which is expected to take place this year, subject to standard closing conditions.
After selling a stake in the firm to private equity group New Mountain Capital in June 2024, Grant Thornton began to operate in an alternative practice structure: Grant Thornton LLP, a licensed CPA firm, provides attest services, and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC provides business advisory and non-attest services.
The acquisition will elevate Grant Thornton Advisors’ transaction advisory team by enhancing its merger and acquisition capabilities. The practice currently has more than 600 private equity relationships, including 60% of the top 10 global private equity firms by total equity, and more than 1,600 sponsor-backed clients. The deal with Stax further expands Grant Thornton Advisors’ commercial-diligence offerings and adds Stax’s seasoned transaction-consulting leadership team. Together, the two firms will service almost 70% of the U.S.-based Private Equity International 300.
In addition to transaction-related services, Grant Thornton Advisors provides a range of services centered on strategy, transformation, and operations. These include offerings across technology, finance, operations, sales and marketing, data, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and risk. It also provides a complete slate of tax services.
“With this bold move, we’re taking our platform to new heights—combining Stax’s top-tier talent with our own industry-leading professionals while broadening our offerings and further elevating our tech capabilities,” Grant Thornton Advisors CEO Jim Peko said in a statement. “Stax has a decades-long legacy delivering transformative value to clients—similar to our own 100-year history. Together, we will generate bold results for a PE client base stretching from the Americas across Europe to the Middle East.”
“PE firms today don’t just want an advisor; they want a partner with agility, intelligence, and scale,” added Tom Puthiyamadam, managing partner for advisory services at Grant Thornton Advisors. “By adding Stax, we’re combining trust with data-driven precision to unlock strategic value at every stage of the investment lifecycle. This is more than an expansion—it’s a leap forward in delivering outcomes for PE and corporate clients.”
Headquartered in Boston with a presence across key financial markets, Stax provides buy- and sell-side diligence and planning for M&A activities while delivering clients with growth strategies and value-creation initiatives. The firm’s data-driven approach taps into leading AI and advanced intelligence to deliver actionable insights and proven successes for its clients.
The three-decade-old firm has grown rapidly in recent years while maintaining high client-retention rates and lengthy stakeholder relationships. It serves many of the leading players in large-cap and middle-market private equity, alternative investments, and investment banking.
“We are proud to have built a 30-year reputation for excellent client service, unique tech-enabled solutions, and impressive growth,” said Stax CEO Jayson Traxler. “As part of Grant Thornton Advisors, those characteristics will endure—but with far greater scale, speed, and amplification of our impact. We will be empowered to build on our unique strengths and insights, for the benefit of the leading PE firms, portfolio companies, and investment banks.”
In a joint statement, Andre Moura and Nikhil Devulapalli, managing directors at New Mountain Capital, said, “Stax’s world-class commercial diligence and value-creation capabilities are highly complementary to Grant Thornton Advisors’ scaled transaction advisory offering. The addition of Stax enables Grant Thornton to better serve its clients as they contemplate and execute on major investment decisions and operating initiatives. We are proud to continue supporting Grant Thornton as the firm grows and broadens its capabilities.”
The transaction grows the multinational, multidisciplinary platform that Grant Thornton Advisors established in January of this year. To date, it has announced transactions with several sister Grant Thornton firms to join the platform, including those in Ireland, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland/Liechtenstein, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, and the Channel Islands.
- Related article: Grant Thornton US Keeps Growing Multinational Platform
Additionally, Grant Thornton Advisors announced a deal last month to acquire Auxis, a U.S.-based leader in outsourcing and business-modernization services.
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