WHK growth continues

WHK Group’s latest round of acquisitions has boosted its total acquired revenue for the last financial year to around $56 million.

Continuing the financial planning group’s ‘tuck-in’ growth strategy, it has purchased the businesses or fee parcels of four accounting practices, including two in Victoria, one in Queensland and one in New South Wales.

The acquisitions have been spread across four of the group’s core member firms. WHK Horwath Sydney acquired the $1.5 million Sydney-based business M Purtill and WHK TCM Smith purchased the $1.4 million Townsville practice Coco & Stanton.

In Victoria, WHK Armitage Downie bought the $1.1 million Braeside firm Walsh Johnson and WHK Mahoney Archer purchased the fee parcel of D Ryan, valued at around $200,000.

M Purtill is a former partner of Sydney accounting firm Pritchard Adams and, along with eight of his staff, has joined WHK Horwath Sydney as a principal.

The business employs around 290 staff, 36 principals and has annualised revenue of $45 million, with the merger making WHK Horwath Sydney one of the largest mid-market firms in Australia.

Coco & Stanton is a boutique firm with two partners, 11 staff and annual revenue of approximately $1.4 million. Along with traditional accounting services, it provides succession and estate planning and employee incentive plan services, bringing the new sum total of staff to 130 employees and 14 principals. The combined annualised revenue of WHK-TCM Smith and Coco & Stanton is over $15 million.

The Walsh Johnson — WHK Armitage Downie merger brings the combined annualised revenue to $18 million, with the acquisition allowing the WHK practice to expand its presence in southwestern Victoria.

Commenting on the transactions, Bruce Paterson, WHK company secretary, said they were “consistent with the group’s growth strategy of supporting the development and expansion of core member firms into major businesses … through scope and scale”.