Baker Tilly rebrands as Azets Ireland after takeover

Accountancy firm Baker Tilly Ireland has been taken over by audit and advisory business Azets, as it enters the Irish market for the first time.

Azets, which has operations in the Nordic countries and the UK, will take over Baker Tilly with immediate effect, it said in a statement on Wednesday. Baker Tilly Ireland has rebranded as Azets Ireland. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Azets Ireland now has a team of about 100 people including 11 partners and about 2,000 clients, it said.

“The SME sector is neglected by the big six accountancy firms yet the needs and opportunities of those businesses are as valid as the needs of the multinational enterprise community,” Azets Ireland chief executive Neil Hughes said. “With the investment from Azets and the connection to this growing international services company, Azets Ireland is well positioned to advise our clients and to take advantage of the growth opportunities that this presents for our firm,” he added.

Former Baker Tilly accountants Dessie Morrow, Kate Prendiville, Rory O’Shea and Ivan McCormick have all been promoted to partner “with immediate effect”, Azets said in the statement, “in recognition of the importance of emerging talent to the future of the firm”.

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Azets group chief executive Chris Horne said Ireland is a “natural choice” for expansion.

“With its membership of the EU Single Market, strong commercial ties to the UK and transatlantic links, Ireland is the main gateway to Europe in a post-Brexit environment,” he said. “Ireland has a buoyant SME market as well as being the investment location for North American firms accessing the European markets, making it the natural choice to complement Azets’ near-term expansion plans. We are excited to be partnering with Neil and the team to build a strong domestic and international advisory practice of scale.”

Azets’ investment in Ireland marks the company’s tenth deal in 12 months, with more M&A activity planned across all regions as the group continues to deliver against its ambitious growth strategy, the company said.

The overall group boasts a network of over 187 offices across Europe, the Nordics and the UK and a client pool of more than 100,000.

“Azets’ investment in people, talent development, and technology enables group-wide, cross-border collaboration and will create opportunities for our new Azets Ireland colleagues to develop skills and work in new sectors and geographies on innovative and strategic projects,” said Mr Horne. “We have a clear pathway to deliver new jobs in Ireland and enable career progression for people at all levels.”