Accountancy firm Cooper Parry (CP) has started 2023 by announcing a duo of acquisitions.
The Derby-headquartered firm has snapped up ihorizon – one of the UK’s leading early stage accounting players focused solely on the tech startup ecosystem.
In a second deal, Acclivity, a boutique advisory firm specialising in accountancy, tax and consultancy to entrepreneurs and high growth early stage businesses, has also merged with CP.
Together, the two deals create an immediate platform for CP’s Tech & High Growth team to provide full support to early stage startups as well as to its existing portfolio of 200+ post Series A scaleups.
The additional 40+ specialists mean that CP’s dedicated THG team has grown from a standing start to over 100 people strong in just two years. Across the firm’s UK locations, the talent headcount is now 535+.
Ade Cheatham, Cooper Parry CEO, says: “These two deals reinforce our determination to disrupt the Mid-tier like no other. We’ve been bold with our ambitious growth plans and these two high quality firms give us an amazing start to the year. The culture and talent within the firms are a great fit for CP. They also add a brilliant new dynamic to our fast-growing presence in the THG space.”
Steve Leith, head of CP Tech & High Growth, says: “Bringing ihorizon and Acclivity into CP means our specialist team can now deliver a full life-cycle solution from startup through scaleup and into exit. There’s no other equivalent team in the Mid-tier or the Big 4 operating at this scale and so deeply inside the high-growth ecosystem. Startups will be able to make the seamless transition from a specialist digital-first solution into full service scaleup support specifically designed for venture stage companies.”
Pratik Sampat, ihorizon CEO, adds: “Everything felt right about joining Cooper Parry. The CP team is already well established in the market supporting scale-ups and we have a shared vision to create the go-to team for Founders and CFOs of high potential and high-growth companies. This coming together is great news for our team and our clients.”
Asif Ahmed, ex-founder, Acclivity, now head of Early Stage, CP Tech & High Growth, says: “Given the number of clients we’ve seen transition from Acclivity’s early stage portfolio into CP’s specialist scale-up team, it was a no-brainer to join forces to create a market-leading proposition. It means early stage companies don’t have to change relationships as they scale and as their finance challenges become more complex. It’s a win, win.”
