Accounting Firm Crow to Acquire 3rd Largest Texas Firm Briggs & Veselka

Crowe LLP has signed an agreement to welcome personnel from Houston-based Briggs & Veselka, the third largest locally owned accounting firm in Texas. The transaction has an expected completion date of Jan. 1, 2022. Crowe is a public accounting, consulting and technology firm in the U.S. with offices around the world, including Dallas and Houston. Following the completion of the transaction, the Texas presence of Crowe will include more than 550 professionals. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Briggs & Veselka was founded in 1973 in Houston and today has more than 330 professionals and four offices in Houston, Austin, The Woodlands and El Campo, Texas. It is the largest locally owned accounting firm in Houston and ranked nationally as a top 100 accounting firm by Accounting Today and Inside Public Accounting. It has also been recognized by several organizations as a best place to work.

“Briggs & Veselka has grown to become a leading accounting and consulting firm that’s well respected in the Texas market while staying true to their values of compassion, excellence and dedication,” said Mark Baer, Crowe CEO. “At Crowe, we have ambitious growth plans, including expanding in key growth markets such as Texas, and our decisions are always grounded by our core values of care, trust, courage and stewardship. We’re very excited to welcome the Briggs & Veselka team to the Crowe family.”

Briggs & Veselka provides audit, tax and a variety of consulting services across Texas and nationally. The firm works with clients across numerous industries, including agriculture, banks & financial institutions, construction, energy, healthcare, life sciences & pharmaceuticals, manufacturing & distribution, nonprofit, professional services, real estate, restaurants & hospitality, retail, technology & media, and transportation & logistics.

“Briggs & Veselka is the “crown jewel” of Houston and was quickly becoming a powerhouse throughout all of Texas, said Allan D. Koltin, CEO of Koltin Consulting Group, who advised both firms on the merger. “They were approached by every national firm imaginable but loved the Crowe platform, culture, leadership, and innovativeness of Crowe.”

As part of the transaction, Sheila Enriquez, CEO and managing partner at Briggs & Veselka, will join Crowe as a partner, Texas market leader and a member of the Crowe management committee. Thirty-three partners from Briggs & Veselka will join Crowe as partners, and the Briggs & Veselka offices will become Crowe offices.

Enriquez noted that she and the team at Briggs & Veselka have long prided themselves on being fiercely independent, but with the evolution of the profession driven by exponential changes accelerated by the pandemic, she believes that joining Crowe is in the best interest of Briggs & Veselka’s people, clients and partners.

“We’ve worked hard to create a culture where our people thrive and where our clients have the utmost trust in us to help them succeed and grow,” Enriquez said. “The more I learned about Crowe, the more confident I became that our respective cultures and strategies for the future are very much aligned. In joining Crowe, we can remain true to our values and continue our legacy. We’re creating tremendous synergies that will provide greater opportunities for our team members and allow us to better serve our clients with expanded services and solutions, both in the great state of Texas and beyond,” said Enriquez.

John Flatowicz, immediate past managing partner of Briggs & Veselka who doubled the size of the firm during his nine-year tenure, echoed this enthusiasm.

“I’ve been part of the Briggs & Veselka family for 39 years and am excited about what joining Crowe will mean for our two firms, our people and the Texas market,” said Flatowicz. “We’ll be able to offer our clients new and exciting solutions that provide lasting value. In Texas, relationships are everything. In joining with Crowe, our loyalty to our clients and commitment to quality remain steadfast.”

“This deal is a major strategic move for Crowe,” added Koltin. “Historically, Crowe has been much more focused on organic growth and this deal should send a message within the industry that they are now going to become a major player in the CPA firm M&A space as well.”