Indianapolis-based KSM acquires New York City-based firm

Indianapolis-based accounting firm Katz Sapper & Miller has acquired New York City-based Shanholt Glassman Klein Kramer & Co., significantly expanding KSM’s presence in that market.

The acquisition, announced Monday, adds another 59 employees and six partners to KSM’s roster, raising the firm’s personnel count in New York from 22 to 87 and making the New York office KSM’s second-largest behind Indianapolis.

KSM declined to disclose financial terms of the deal, which closed Thursday.

KSM CEO Tim Cook said the firm had long wanted to expand its New York office, which opened in 2012. Acquiring SGKK was a good way to achieve the goal, Cook said, because of that firm’s strong reputation and loyal base of long-term customers.

“This firm was a really good opportunity for us,” he said.

Shanholt Glassman Klein Kramer & Co. traces its roots to 1931, when Harry Shanholt began the firm as a sole practitioner.

SGKK Partner Sandy Klein will serve as managing partner of the combined office.

KSM is Indianapolis’ largest accounting firm. Including the new employees added via the SGKK acquisition, the firm now has more than 700 employees total, with about half based in Indianapolis.

In addition to its Indianapolis and New York offices, KSM also has locations in Fort Wayne, Evansville, Oklahoma City and Cincinnati.

The SGKK acquisition marks KSM’s second significant expansion this year.

In May, KSM acquired Cassady Schiller CPAs & Advisors, a 70-person firm based in Cincinnati.

Cook said the acquisitions are part of KSM’s larger strategy to grow while remaining independent.

In recent years, the accounting industry has emerged as a hot target for private equity firms, which have invested in accounting firms around the country, including several in the Indianapolis market. Those investments can help accounting firms upgrade their technology and grow their business, but they also typically give the investors a say in how the accounting firms operate.

KSM is not interested in taking that path, Cook said.

“We are a firm committed to independence and doing this our own way with our culture,” he said.