GreenGrowth acquires retiring firm CGC

GreenGrowth CPAs acquired CGC Accountants & Advisors in a move to expand its new service niche.

The accounting profession faces a massive shift as its talent ages and as baby boomer partners look to retire and, thus, decide what to do with their firms. GreenGrowth is taking advantage of this “silver tsunami” by servicing those retiring partners’ firms.

Retiring firms have a couple of options: They can shut their doors, or they can sell. With the latter option, they can sell directly to another accounting firm, sell using a broker or sell to private equity.

GreenGrowth founder Derek Davis noted the advantages of selling directly to another accounting firm. Private equity firms are primarily focused on cash flow and return on investment rather than delivering high-quality service to clients, Davis said, and partners may not know what they’re getting when selling through a broker that acts as a barrier between the seller and buyer.

“Relationships don’t always transfer. … Historical knowledge of serving clients for 30 years doesn’t always transfer,” Davis said. That’s why he believes it’s important to establish strong relationships with the retiring partner to set up the firm’s clients and employees for success.

GreenGrowth acquired CGC in January, adding roughly 800 clients and 15 employees to GreenGrowth’s 1,200 clients, 70 employees and two partners. CGC’s clients are primarily high net worth individuals located in Coachella Valley, a desert region of Southern California that includes the cities of Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage.

GreenGrowth is headquartered in Los Angeles and has four more offices across San Francisco and Orange County, California, as well as Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Belgrade, Serbia. GreenGrowth offers accounting, audit and assurance, and tax services to nonprofits, high net worth individuals, and industries like life sciences and biotech, professional services, real estate, technology and cannabis. 

Davis says GreenGrowth intends to buy more retiring firms in the future.