Professional services and accounting firm Mazars Ireland is set to rebrand under a new name and gain increased US market access through a partnership between Mazars Group and US firm Forvis. The move comes after Mazars, the wider international group, signed an agreement with Forvis to form a new global network that will rank in the International Accounting Bulletin global top 10.
Effective from next June, the network agreement will see the firms rebrand under the name Forvis Mazars, with a combined global revenue of €4.7 billion.
The news comes after Mazars Ireland 25 per cent growth for the financial year to August 2023, with revenues growing to €65 million.
Formation of the Forvis Mazars network is not a merger and both Mazars and Forvis will remain owned by their current respective partnerships. The two companies will follow a common global strategy, and will be able to share team resources to suit client needs.
US firm Forvis was formed in 2022, through the merger of accounting firms BKD and Dixon Hughes Goodman.
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Tom O’Brien, managing partner of Mazars Ireland, emphasised that it will be “business as usual” for clients and staff following the rebranding and network formation.
He said that Forvis Mazars delivers “in one move” on the Mazars Group strategy to expand its presence in the US, and “can only be a positive for the Irish practice in terms of inward and outward business”.
Mr O’Brien said that Forvis also has a strong offer in financial services consulting, something Mazars Ireland has “invested very heavily in” over the past couple of years.
He noted that the Irish firm has hired two partner teams in the financial services consulting area within the past 18 months, increasing total headcount to about 50 people, and that the new network will act as a “shot in the arm to that offer” that will “lead to synergies and opportunities” for the Irish team.
Mr O’Brien said that while Mazars Ireland is seen as a “challenger firm” in the Irish market compared to the big four accounting firms, the new network will give Mazars Ireland an edge in attracting global businesses with a US presence, as well as delivering inward business to the Irish practice from the US.
Mr O’Brien said that in the financial year to August 2023, Mazars Ireland saw revenues of €65 million, a 25 per cent increase on 2022 revenues which reached €52 million. He noted that the growth was driven by investing in the firm’s brand as well as advisory services to win “large deals and large ticket transactions that are really pushing us on in terms of size”.
He said that in the next three years, the firm aims to surpass revenues of €100 million and grow from around 800 staff currently to 1,000.
“Outside of that, we also want to further invest in our local footprint. To open a sizeable office in Cork is certainly something that’s on our priority list,” he said.
