On Jan. 1, Chattanooga's biggest accounting firm merged with South Carolina's largest to form Elliott Davis Decosimo.
The union between the companies creates what is now the 28th largest such business on Accounting Today's top 100 firms list. Elliott Davis Decosimo has about 150 employees in Chattanooga.
Nick Decosimo, office managing shareholder for Chattanooga and a member of the firm's executive committee, says that the merger offers complementary offerings and niches and no geographic overlaps.
"I thought the merger was a good idea for us to grow," says Decosimo, who is the son of Joseph Decosimo, one of the three men who founded Joseph Decosimo & Co. in 1971 in Chattanooga. "Our banking practice was almost nil. They have 120 bank clients."
Also, while Decosimo had audited only one publicly traded firm, Ooltewah-based Miller Industries, Elliott Davis was the accounting firm for 40 publicly traded companies.
Before the deal, Joseph Decosimo & Co. was a $40 million a year business, while Greenville, South Carolina-based Elliott Davis did about $75 million in yearly revenue.
Now, the firm is the fifth biggest in the Southeast, with more than 800 employees working out of 17 offices.
"We expect to grow our combined company and, while some people's responsibilities may change some, we expect to need our staff and more to meet our future growth," Decosimo said at the time the combination was announced.