The Sleeter Group, which hosts a popular conference for accounting technology consultants, has been acquired by Diversified Communications, a family-owned, international media company with a 65-year history.
The Sleeter Group, Inc., founded by Doug Sleeter, operates a membership community that provides professional training and development through an annual conference, membership networking forums, webinars, books, exams, newsletters, blogs and research services. The company serves a large market with approximately 28 million small and medium enterprises and 1.8 million accountants in the U.S. The Sleeter Group’s 800 members also provide bookkeeping and consulting services to over 300,000 SMEs.
Doug Sleeter will continue to be involved in the business and The Sleeter Group’s staff will join Diversified Communications and remain working from the office in Pleasanton, Calif.
“I could not imagine a better match for us than Diversified,” Sleeter said in a statement. “They are just as passionate as we are about serving our market and they are perfectly positioned to build on what we’ve developed. They bring vast resources, incredible management, and deep experience that will help us realize our dreams for serving a growing market. I’m looking forward to working with the Diversified team to and to continue our culture of leading change in the market for small business accounting.”
Diversified Communications is an international media company providing market access, education and information through global, national and regional face-to-face events, digital products, publications and television stations. Diversified serves a number of industries, including business management, technology, healthcare, commercial marine and food and beverage. Based in Portland, Maine, Diversified has divisions in the Eastern United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and the United Kingdom.
“For 21 years The Sleeter group has supported accounting professionals who serve small businesses,” said RD Whitney, group vice president of Diversified Communications. “We are a family owned company and felt that warmth in the community immediately. We are truly impressed with the quality of consultants in the Sleeter Group. We will continue to foster those relationships while offering outstanding technology education and broader resources to strengthen their business.”
Sleeter said in an email that he and his wife Sherrill have worked for 21 years to build The Sleeter Group brand. “This is an enormous validation of our efforts that a company as great as Diversified shares our vision and will bring new resources to the task of building value in the small business accounting solutions marketplace,” he wrote.
“The Sleeter Group staff and I will remain with the company, so I’m sure we’ll be working more together in the coming months and years,” he added. "I am particularly encouraged by the track history Diversified has in providing resources to business communities and growing the membership base for the mutual benefit of all stakeholders. Taking the Sleeter Group to the next level of growth was our main motivation and Diversified is an ideal partner to help our community thrive.”
