Nichols Cauley partners on multiservices platform

Nichols Cauley, an accounting and advisory firm based in Dublin, Georgia, announced the creation of a new platform through a private-equity backed merger with insurance brokerage Partners Risk Services and transactions advisory firm JGH Consulting. 

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The platform will be a one-stop-shop to provide accounting, insurance and transaction advisory services to privately held small and midsized businesses, entrepreneurs and family-owned companies. The deal is supported by an investment from Chicago-based private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners, and is expected to close at the end of the first quarter of this year. 

“This merger is about more than staying competitive — it’s about making sophisticated business solutions accessible and meaningful to the clients who need it most,” Todd Giddens, managing partner of Nichols Cauley, said in a statement. “By combining our strengths, we amplify our ability to innovate and provide value-add solutions across accounting, tax, audit, advisory, insurance and transaction advisory services. We’re committed to being the partner of choice that walks alongside our clients through every step of their journey.”

As is common with private equity deals in accounting, Nichols Cauley will adopt an alternative practice structure following the close of the transaction, separating its attest services and non-attest services. 

“We are delighted to be supporting this innovative combination of three leading complementary financial services businesses into one synergistic platform,” Vahe Dombalagian, managing partner and cohead of financial services at MDP, said in a statement. “We look forward to working closely with the platform leadership and the broader team on their mission to deliver a unified service offering to clients across the Southeast U.S. and beyond.”

The combined company will maintain its leadership across all service lines. Todd Giddens, managing partner of Nichols Cauley, will become COO of the platform. Joe Thompson, CEO of Partners Risk Services, will lead risk management and insurance services, while Greg Hicks, managing partner of JGH Consulting, will lead transaction advisory services. Alan Whitman, former CEO and chairman of Baker Tilly U.S., will join as CEO.

“Having spent years helping scale Baker Tilly into a leading national platform, I see an extraordinary opportunity to bring that experience to Nichols Cauley as we build something truly differentiated for private businesses and entrepreneurs,” Whitman said in a statement. “By unifying accounting, tax, audit, insurance and transaction advisory under one roof and partnering with Madison Dearborn Partners, we’re offering a next-generation platform that breaks from tradition and equips business owners with the integrated, sophisticated advice they need at every stage of their journey.”

Nichols Cauley has eight offices and serves clients across Georgia and the Southeast. It was featured on Accounting Today‘s 2025 Best Firms to Work For list. Partners Risk Services is an insurance brokerage based in Atlanta. JGH is a transaction advisory firm, also based in Atlanta, that specializes in sell-side M&A for family-owned and closely held businesses in the lower-middle market. 

JGH Consulting advised Nichols Cauley and Partners Risk Services, and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough and Dechert provided legal counsel to the combined company. Koltin Consulting Group advised MDP. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison as well as Kirkland & Ellis, Vedder Price and Alston & Bird provided legal counsel to MDP.