ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the challenges, opportunities and pitfalls of mergers and acquisitions between firms and their impacts on Clients. Mergers and acquisitions can often address any strengths and weaknesses that exist in professional staff credentials. Allan Evans is partner at accountants BDO with responsibility for marketing and sales and also sits on their Global Leadership team to ensure consistency in marketing, brand and Client service across the 148 countries in which it has member firms. Today's professional services firms operate in highly competitive markets. Consolidation, particularly in the accounting and legal sectors, is becoming more frequent. The most important assets are your people, so any merger or acquisition is going to impact on them, followed closely by the Clients of both firms. Penningtons seeks potential partner firms with a similar culture and vision to their own. It was important to ratify this selection factor during the relatively short courtship of Manches.
