Abacus Worldwide and JHI have signed a Letter of Intent to merge as of September 1, 2020
The merged association will continue as Abacus Worldwide bringing together 125 legal and accounting member firms with 5,600 total staff, 236 offices spanning 56 countries and combined global revenue in excess of $500 Million placing it in 12th position in the current rankings of global accounting associations. JHI plans to finalise their vote to merge into Abacus Worldwide following their Special General Meeting in Lisbon, Portugal in July 2020.
Abacus Worldwide is a relatively new association but has grown rapidly in just 8 years of development. It is seen as a growing force by many and in 2018, it won the ‘Rising Star Association of the Year’ Award at the IAB annual awards ceremony. Now with the addition of JHI, Abacus is primed to compete with similar sized associations in terms of services and coverage.
Members of both organisations will greatly benefit from the merger, with increased coverage, improved services, enhanced meetings, and more opportunities for potential business. Post-merger, Abacus will be able to push forward on its strategic plan aimed at regional development, and further membership recruitment and engagement initiatives. Together the group aims to focus its efforts on three key services: Business Referrals, Knowledge Exchange and Practice Management Tools.
“JHI is recognised for its long-standing close-knit membership and we see Abacus as a forward-thinking dynamic association with the right leadership at the helm. In addition, merging will offer member firms increased geographic coverage and connections globally to both accounting and law firms through the multi-disciplined approach Abacus has developed. We are confident members will receive greater benefit from this combination and we look forward to a successful union.” stated Brian Pashen, JHI International Chairman.
Abacus Worldwide President and CEO Julio Gabay added, “We are excited to welcome JHI members to the Abacus family. In 2012 when Abacus had no more than 5 member firms we implemented a strategy to grow past 100 member firms. This merger will bring our combined membership to 125 engaged and committed firms. Going forward, our strategy will focus on regional efforts and further supporting member needs. We are confident that we will have a great future together.”
