Citrin Cooperman, a Top 25 Firm based in New York, completed the acquisition of Kingston Smith Barlevi, a Los Angeles-based firm that specialized in the media and entertainment industries, effective July 1.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. KSB will add two partners to Citrin Cooperman who will join Citrin Cooperman’s business management and family office team, providing private client services. Citrin Cooperman ranked No. 23 on Accounting Today’s 2022 list of the Top 100 Firms, with $350 million in annual revenue.
Citrin Cooperman will have more than 200 employees in Southern California after the deal, with about half of them devoted to entertainment and the rest providing services to a large diverse corporate client base.
“Our growth in California has been substantial and we have been fortunate to join with so many talented professionals in such a short period of time.” said Citrin executive chairman Joel Cooperman in a statement Wednesday. “We’ve been servicing clients in media and entertainment for over 40 years, and we’re excited to have KSB join in this key industry sector.”
Citrin Cooperman has been doing a number of merger deals since receiving a substantial investment from the private equity firm New Mountain Capital last year that gave it a majority interest in the firm (
The KSB acquisition will further expand Citrin’s presence in the California entertainment industry. Both Citrin and KSB have known each other through their membership in the Moore North America network of accounting firms. KSB’s former parent firm was known as Moore Kingston Smith.
“We are very excited to join a firm that is already a leader in the entertainment world,” said KSB partner Steve Barlevi in a statement. “We’ve known many of the partners at Citrin Cooperman for many years through our mutual membership with Moore, and we greatly respect what they have accomplished.”
Citrin sees benefits from bringing KSB into the fold. “The KSB team have an incredible pulse on the media and entertainment industries,” said Citrin Cooperman CEO Alan Badey in a statement. “Their deep relationships, skills and specialties dovetail perfectly with our own and we very much look forward to having them aboard as we continue to expand our footprint throughout California.”
“With the support and resources of Citrin Cooperman, the KSB clients will be truly gaining full-service capabilities,” said Moore Kingston Smith chairman Graham Tyler, a former partner at KSB, in a statement. “To be able to bring those new services to these clients is something we are really excited about. Through our mutual relationship with Moore, we know this transaction will give us the ability to provide deeper services to our respective clients.”
