Mazars and Forvis team up to challenge top-ten global market
As the biggest recent mid-market consolidation, international accounting and consulting network Mazars is teaming up with Forvis of the US to create a new top-ten global challenger.
The global accounting and consulting revenue leaderboard is in line for a shake-up this year with international network Mazars set to join US player Forvis from June – their combined $4.7 billion in global revenues placing the alliance, to be known as Forvis Mazars, in ninth place in the international network standings ahead of Baker Tilly and behind Crowe based on current take, with HLB theoretically pushed out of the top ten.
Presently, Mazars sits in at around 14th globally, with approximately 35,000 professionals in 100 countries worldwide generating $3 billion in revenues over the past year, while Forvis is the 8th largest accounting and consulting firm in the US, bringing in a further $1.7 billion.
The deal was struck following Forvis’ acquisition of Mazars’ US branch, although the internationally aligned duo will remain individually owned by the two firms’ respective partnerships.
“We’re proud to bring a pioneering new network model to our industry and are excited to continue this journey together,” stated Mazars’ Paris-based chairman Hervé Hélias. “At Mazars, we are committed to helping our clients confidently build and grow their businesses, and forming this two-firm network with Forvis complements our existing international integrated partnership and significantly advances Mazars’ international strategy.”
Established in France in 1945, Mazars has only been operating in the US for a little over a decade, and has struggled to establish a strong presence since its inception while also gaining unfortunate notoriety as the former accountant of the Trump family business. Meanwhile, Forvis, which has a headcount of around 6,000, was itself formed through a US top-ten-busting merger in 2022 between local entities BKD and DHG, at the time ranked 16th and 17th nationally.
Speaking on the latest move, Forvis chief executive Tom Watson said, “A two-firm network, operating under a single global brand, quickly advances our shared strategies. It’s an opportunity to better serve our clients, especially those with international needs, and support our people on a path of continued growth. Our organisations know each other well (having both been members of Praxity), with a strong history of collaboration and very similar cultures.”
The two partners promoted the combined entity as “a new entrant in the top 10 global network rankings”, but it’s not entirely certain as yet. A long way back from the Big Four and mid- tier leader in BDO, Forvis Mazars will slot in somewhere below RSM and Grant Thornton in a bracket with Crowe, Baker Tilly and HLB, but the latter two are yet to report for 2023 after posting respective revenues of $4.7 billion and $4.4 billion over the previous period.
The hook-up is also unlikely to have any impact on the standings in Australia, which will also see some movement this year with PwC slipping down the local Big Four pecking order.
Currently ranked outside the top 20, Mazars’s Australian branch did however grow at a 16% clip last year, with the firm also bolstering its local leadership ranks and moving into a new space in Melbourne to cater for further growth.
