Accounting firm platform Ascend has a new member firm: Lucas Horsfall in Pasadena, CA.
Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Lucas Horsfall will add 15 partners and about 125 professionals to Ascend’s team.
Backed by private equity from Alpine Investors, Ascend partners with regional accounting firms but allows them to stay independent while providing the firms resources to help them grow.
Ascend provides its member firms access to growth capital, talent acquisition and training, best-of-breed technology, artificial intelligence tools, an offshore captive, shared back-office services, a catalytic leadership system, and modernized equity incentives.
Its newest member firm, Lucas Horsfall, which was founded in 1957, serves families and business owners primarily in the manufacturing, real estate, and construction industries, with increasing growth in the technology, healthcare, and food and beverage sectors. In addition to its Pasadena headquarters, the firm’s offices in Encino and Irvine, CA, also become part of Ascend’s national footprint.
“Lucas Horsfall has a long and rich history as a trusted advisor in Southern California, with a concentrated client base in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, the Inland Empire, and Orange County. They have many defining characteristics that fit well with Ascend’s ‘PeopleFirst’ culture and business model,” Ascend President Nishaad (Nish) Ruparel said in a statement. “LH sees growth as a key enabler of enduring professional fulfillment. The partners, led by Mike Amerio, embody a service orientation and desire for excellence that extends to clients and employees equally, and the firm’s leaders are fixtures in their community. Each of these foundational traits will be magnified by the capital and resources we bring to the table. We look forward to ushering in Lucas Horsfall Advisors’ bright future together.”
As is common in private equity deals with CPA firms, Lucas Horsfall has adopted an alternative practice structure that separates non-attest from attest services. Tax and business advisory services will be provided by Lucas Horsfall Advisors LLC, a new entity affiliated with Ascend. Attest services will be provided by Lucas, Horsfall, Murphy & Pindroh LLP, an independently owned and licensed CPA firm.
“As we look out over the next decade or so, there’s so much change coming in terms of how to attract and retain people, how to navigate technology including AI, and how to manage a growing need for offshoring. Ascend gives us the right resources and the right technology team to manage these fast-paced changes well beyond just the workstation. We will have the opportunity to grow at a faster pace and get ahead of the game instead of trailing the game, to stay competitive in the marketplace,” said Amerio, CEO of Lucas Horsfall Advisors LLC.
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