Corrected: BREAKINGVIEWS-Accounting tie-up figures brains need more brawn

CBIZ

30/07/2026 16:54

Changes where Grant Thornton is based to Chicago from London in third paragraph. The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
By Sebastian  Pellejero
NEW YORK, July 30 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Spreadsheets aren’t the only thing getting bigger in accounting. Audit and consulting firm Grant Thornton is buying rival CBIZ CBZ.N for $5 billion in cash, the industry's largest deal in decades. The combined company will trail only the Big Four — Deloitte, EY, KPMG, PwC — as the top U.S. provider of professional services. For number-crunching outfits, it's the latest sign that size and number of relationships are becoming increasingly necessary as AI chips away at white-collar work.
Stitched together from three decades of mergers and name changes, CBIZ has more than 9,500 employees and generated $2.8 billion in sales last year. In 2024, the company acquired Marcum for $2.3 billion. Softer-than-expected earnings since then have weighed on the stock. Investors will pocket $55 per share from Grant Thornton, an 18% premium to its close on July 28, but a fifth less than when the Marcum deal was announced.
The move caps Chicago-based Grant Thornton's sprint from traditional partnership to private-equity-backed platform. Investor New Mountain Capital, which bought into the group in 2024, is kicking in fresh equity for this purchase, increasing their overall ownership stake, sources tell Breakingviews. Since taking outside money, the advisory firm has gone on an acquisitive streak while planning to invest $1 billion in technology over the next few years.
Cheap valuations and expensive AI build-outs are nudging pencil pushers too small to go it alone into the arms of bigger rivals. Larger firms have teamed up with private equity giants such as KKR to help bankroll acquisitions and upgrades that can’t be funded on partner capital alone. In the U.S., the number of accounting, audit and tax service deals totaled 120 through July 16, the most over that year-to-date period since 2016, according to PitchBook.
Despite all that activity, even the smallest of the Big Four remains far ahead. Last year, KPMG grew revenue 5% to around $40 billion, more than five-times larger than Grant Thornton after the deal closes. Even if it grows the top line at the double rate of KPMG, in five years it would generate roughly $12 billion. That still barely moves the needle in comparison with its larger competitor.
Catching up will require years of acquisitions and investment. Still, the direction of travel is clear. Consolidation, once anathema to a profession built on partnership and prudence, is emerging as a key exponent for relevance. Rivals sitting on the sidelines may soon find themselves on the wrong side of the ledger.
     
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CONTEXT NEWS
Privately-held Grant Thornton Advisors said on July 29 it will buy financial services provider CBIZ for $5 billion in cash, or $55 per share representing an 18% premium to its share price on July 28. Minority investor New Mountain Capital will contribute incremental equity to support the deal.
Deutsche Bank is serving as the lead advisor for Grant Thornton, while Goldman Sachs advised CBIZ.

(Editing by Jennifer Saba; Production by Maya Nandhini)
((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on PELLEJERO/ Sebastian.Pellejero@thomsonreuters.com))