K·Coe Isom merges in Baer & Co.

K·Coe Isom LLP, a Top 100 Firm based in Loveland, Colo., has expanded into Missouri by adding Baer & Co.

K·Coe Isom, based in Loveland, Colo., specializes in the food and agriculture industry. The firm ranked 66th on Accounting Today’s 2017 list of the Top 100 Firms.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. However, Baer & Co. had annual revenues of $2.5 million, while K·Coe’s revenues were $61 million.

Jackson and Columbia, Mo., will become K·Coe Isom’s first offices in Missouri, bridging the nearest locations in the Kansas City suburb of Lenexa, Kan., and Oxford, Miss.

Baer has three partners and 23 other employees, while K·Coe has 56 partners and 357 employees. The combined firm, after some recent retirements, will have 55 partners and shareholders, 65 principals and a total of 375 people. Baer & Co. CEO Jeff Baer, who founded his firm in 1995, will become a principal at K·Coe Isom.

“Baer & Co people instantly felt like a natural fit within our team, and we saw and felt this even more when we were all together two weeks ago,” said K·Coe Isom CEO Jeff Wald in a statement. “We have a shared passion for helping people, especially ag producers, beverage distributors, and contractors. Jeff Baer is a dynamic leader proven to think out of the box and committed to growth. He’s built a great team and we’re truly happy for them to become part of our firm.”

K·Coe Isom resulted from the merger in 2015 of Kansas-based Kennedy and Coe LLC, and a Northern California firm, Matson and Isom (see New year, new name for Kennedy and Coe). Last November, the firm expanded in California by acquiring Schmidt, Bettencourt & Medeiros in Turlock, its sixth location in the state (see K·Coe Isom acquires Schmidt, Bettencourt & Medeiros).

Baer sees opportunities to grow his firm through the deal. “I’ve always been growth focused,” he said. “About a year ago, I started appreciating how integrating with like-minded K·Coe Isom permitted us to be so much better together. It’s a pleasure to now be able to bring rich specialty service offerings to our clients such as estate, succession, sustainability and farm program services. I’m also eager to meet and work with many more businesses in Missouri and surrounding states having our larger K·Coe team helping to fulfill business-owners’ financial needs and growth dreams. This is a tremendous opportunity to make an even more positive impact.”