Top 10 Firm CliftonLarsonAllen LLP will merge with Top 100 Firm and West Coast powerhouse Gallina LLP, effective Jan. 1, 2017.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Gallina will assume the CLA name, and its more than 300 team members are expected to continue to serve clients from their locations in California, Nevada, Utah, and Washington.
“There is tremendous synergy between the Gallina and CLA teams,” said CLA CEO Denny Schleper in a statement. “Together, we remain committed to serving privately held businesses and their owners with deep industry knowledge, striving to offer integrated capabilities that exceed our clients’ expectations.”
“By joining CLA, we have an ability to better serve our clients by bringing them a greater depth of service offerings through more robust resources,” Gallina managing partner Larry Taylor said in a statement. “This will also provide exceptional growth and expanded career opportunities for our team members in tax, audit, and consulting.”
Taylor will serve on the CLA leadership team as chief practice officer.
The combination will expand both firms’ expertise in construction and real estate, as well as in agribusiness, manufacturing and distribution. Gallina regional managing partner Teresa Arrighi will join CLA’s construction and real estate executive team.
“I met with Gallina in late April to discuss the future strategy of the firm, and we decided to explore the benefits of being the California office of a national firm," said Allan Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, who advised both firms on the deal. "In addition to California, Gallina also has offices in Seattle, Nevada, and Salt Lake City and we wanted to make sure it was also a fit for those offices. The obvious benefits were the additional industry niches and the ability to offer other services in its construction practice. What we learned was that the CLA culture, strategy and client service philosophy were identical to Gallina’s. As part of the process, we met with five to six national firms and selected CLA as we also felt it presented the best growth opportunities for the staff and future leaders of the firm. I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two additional mergers by CLA in Southern California over the next year.”
Formed in 1972, Gallina has 52 partners and more than 300 staff; it ranked No. 76 on the 2016 Accounting Today Top 100 Firms list. CLA ranked No. 12 on the list, and has acquired several firms over the past few years, including a dozen so far this year. Most recently, it brought on two in August, in Dallas and Milwaukee. (See “
