BDO’s Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane (including Sunshine Coast) partners have voted ‘yes’ to merging their respective firms. The firm said the vote shows strong partner support for BDO’s planned move towards a single national entity in Australia, of which this merger is the first phase.
BDO office managing partner in Brisbane and lead for BDO integration, Tony Schiffmann said: “It’s well known, by both our people and the market, that BDO in Australia’s ambition is to integrate into a single national entity. This strong show of support from partners in our three largest offices (by revenue) is another step closer to us achieving that goal. We’ve been working hard and constantly collaborating behind the scenes to execute this plan, and it is exciting to report that we’ve achieved such a resounding ‘yes’ vote from the partners involved in this first phase.”
The vote will see the three offices come together as a single entity before the end of the year. “Our decision to undertake a phased approach to integration was made to ensure the impact on business as usual has been minimised. Moving towards a single national structure, while at the same time retaining the entrepreneurial freedom we feel is essential at the local level, is a natural step in our firm’s evolution. With Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne now coming under one business structure, it will enhance our ability to invest, attract new talent, grow in scale and expertise, and be more agile moving forward,” Schiffman added.
BDO’s Sydney office managing partner, Grant Saxon said: “We are experiencing strong demand for BDO’s offering in the local market and nationally, and by combining resources initially down the East Coast, our ability to meet market needs and invest in specialist services and sectors will be enhanced. We have seen this already in our recent investment in our financial services team.”
The combined east coast firm (of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast) will consist of 126 partners and has revenue of circa AUD 212 million ($147.3m).
