intends to appoint HLB Frackowiak i Wspolnicy as its new Polish
member. The firm has 12 partners, 255 staff and replaces the former
Grant Thornton member, which merged with BDO Numerica in
June.
Frackowiak i Wspolnicy reported fee income of PLN31.7 million
($15.1 million) in the year ended June 2008, which amounts to 33
percent growth on its previous financial year.
“We have almost doubled the fee income that we had two years
ago,” Frackowiak i Wspolnicy chief executive Tomasz Wroblewski
said. “We reached it without any mergers and acquisitions.
According to our current business plan this year, we will bring a
double-digit increase of about 25 percent in the next financial
year.”
In this year’s International Accounting Bulletin Poland
survey, Frackowiak i Wspolnicy was the eighth largest professional
services firm although Grant Thornton said it is the sixth largest
audit firm.
The firm audits nearly 15 percent of public companies and has
offices in six cities. It also provides accountancy, tax advisory
and business advisory services. Grant Thornton’s previous member
firm was smaller in size, reporting revenue of PLN8.1 million for
the year ended December 2007.
Wroblewski said the firm decided to join Grant Thornton because
more of its clients run international businesses and the activity
of foreign investors within Poland is also growing.
“We believe that we can meet the requirements and needs of these
companies by combining our established local expertise with the
benefits of being part of a strong and cohesive global
organisation,” he explained.
In light of Grant Thornton’s previous member firm defecting to
its rival, BDO Numerica managing partner Kristoff Zorde told the
International Accounting Bulletin he would like to see
more mergers between the two largest mid-tier networks. But
Wroblewski said Grant Thornton was not interested in becoming part
of a ‘Big Five’.
“At Grant Thornton,” Wroblewski said, “we believe that clients
are not interested in having the next Big Four style firm. What is
more, investors, regulators and the media are demanding greater
choice among accountancy networks.”
Frackowiak i Wspolnicy is expected to officially join Grant
Thornton within weeks.
Arvind Hickman and Carolyn Canham
