The accounting, consulting and legal association Abacus Worldwide said Tuesday it has signed a letter of intent with JHI Association to merge, effective Sept. 1, 2020.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. JHI, an association of accounting, tax and business advisory professionals, currently includes 54 member firms in 36 countries.
The merged association will continue to be known as Abacus Worldwide. The combination brings Abacus's member total to 125 legal and accounting member firms, with 5,600 staff members across 236 offices and 56 countries with a combined global revenue in excess of $500 million.
"We are excited to welcome JHI members to the Abacus family," said Julio Gabay, Abacus Worldwide president and CEO, in a statement. "In 2012, when Abacus had no more than five member firms, we implemented a strategy to grow past 100 member firms. This merger will bring our combined membership to 125 engaged and committed firms. Going forward, our strategy will focus on regional efforts and further supporting member needs. We are confident that we will have a great future together.”
JHI plans to finalize its vote to merge following the association's Special General Meeting, to be held in Lisbon, Portugal, this July.
“JHI is recognized for its longstanding close-knit membership and we see Abacus as a forward-thinking dynamic association with the right leadership at the helm," said Brian Pashen, JHI international chairman, in a statement. "In addition, merging will offer member firms increased geographic coverage and connections globally to both accounting and law firms through the multi-disciplined approach Abacus has developed. We are confident members will receive greater benefit from this combination and we look forward to a successful union.”
Abacus said in a statement that the merged group aims to focus on three key services together: "Business referrals, knowledge exchange and practice management tools."
