Culminates with $5 billion CBIZ – Grant Thornton deal as flow drops 47%.
By CPA Trendlines Research
CBIZ spent years buying firms before agreeing to be bought itself on July 29 by Grant Thornton for $5 billion.
The biggest deal ever comes as the deal flow slows, but the deals get bigger.
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The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ records nine institutionally backed acquisitions in July, down from 17 a year earlier. The rolling 12-month institutional transaction count falls from a record 230 in March to 225 in April, 223 in May, 215 in June and 207 in July.
The first seven months still set a record. The Tracker records 121 institutional transactions from January through July, compared with 103 over the same period in 2025.
The $5 billion Grant Thornton-CBIZ transaction gives the month its scale.
New Mountain Capital-backed Grant Thornton Advisors agrees to acquire CBIZ on July 29. It is the largest transaction in the Deal Tracker and the first time CBIZ appears on the target side of the record.
CBIZ appears six times previously as a buyer: Paydayta Paytime, Wenner, Marks Paneth, Erickson Brown & Kloster, Compudata and Marcum. In the Tracker’s 10-year record, CBIZ is the only recorded acquirer later acquired outright.
The pace cools
The slowdown now extends beyond a single month.
The rolling 12-month institutional transaction count peaks at 230 in March 2026 and declines for four consecutive months to 207 in July, a 10% drop from the peak.
July’s nine institutional acquisitions are the lowest monthly total since March 2025, when the Tracker records eight. July 2025 produces 17.
The year-to-date comparison still runs the other way. January alone produces 36 institutional transactions, and the first seven months of 2026 total 121, up 17.5% from 103 over the comparable 2025 period.
A record start has therefore given way to a slower second-half run rate.
The buyers already have capital
All nine July acquisitions are made by platforms that already have institutional backing. Alpine-backed Ascend accounts for three: Leinenweber & Associates and Santi & Associates on July 1, and Kreischer Miller on July 9. Audax-backed Doeren Mayhew makes two. CohnReznick, UHY, Citrin Cooperman and Grant Thornton make one each.
July also includes two ownership-level control events. Meaden & Moore enters a partnership with Unity Partners. Prosperity Partners changes sponsors, with Lightyear Capital taking control while Unity retains a minority position.
The acquisitions move operating firms into existing platforms. Meaden & Moore brings institutional capital into a platform that had none. Prosperity shifts control between owners of an already-sponsored organization.
What July changes
July points to a slower deal pace and more activity inside organizations that already have outside capital.
The Tracker enters the second half with a record 121 institutional transactions for the year, even as the rolling 12-month count falls from 230 to 207. Every July acquisition runs through an already-capitalized platform, and the month’s largest transaction turns a six-time acquirer into an acquisition target.
The reference point is shifting from firms being assembled into platforms to transactions involving the platforms themselves. The activity that remains is increasingly occurring inside already-capitalized organizations.
The Market Slows While Doeren Mayhew Accelerates
Doeren Mayhew nearly matches its full-year 2025 acquisition total in seven months while the Tracker’s rolling institutional count falls for a fourth straight month.
The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ records 10 Doeren Mayhew acquisitions through July, compared with 11 during all of 2025. The firm has completed 91% of last year’s deal count in seven months.
Over the same period, the Tracker’s rolling 12-month institutional transaction count falls from a record 230 in March to 207 in July.
Doeren Mayhew leads the 2026 platform table with 10 acquisitions, one ahead of Ascend at nine. SAX Advisory Group, Aprio and EisnerAmper have six each.
The contrast is sharper than the ranking: aggregate activity is falling while the most active buyer is still accelerating.
Nearly a full year in seven months
Doeren Mayhew records 11 acquisitions in all of 2025, tied with Xeinadin behind Sorren at 17, Ascend at 13 and Aprio at 12.
Through July 2026, it already has 10.
Two come in July: McMillan, Whiteman & Associates in Punta Gorda, Florida, on July 21 and Sowers & Company in Houston on July 22.
Those deals bring Doeren Mayhew to 21 acquisitions in the classified-acquisition universe, eighth among repeat buyers.
Its current pace is running against the market-wide trend, not riding it.
Last year’s leader slows
Sorren goes the other direction.
It leads the 2025 platform table with 17 transactions. Through July 2026, it has three.
Doeren Mayhew is one deal short of its full-year 2025 total with five months left. Sorren has completed fewer than one-fifth of its 2025 total through the first seven months.
Ascend closes the gap
Ascend makes the race tighter with three July acquisitions.
Leinenweber & Associates and Santi & Associates join on July 1, followed by Kreischer Miller on July 9.
Those deals take Ascend to nine institutional transactions through July, one behind Doeren Mayhew.
The top of the table is now Doeren Mayhew 10, Ascend nine, then a group at six.
The annual table turns quickly
Cumulative rankings move slowly because they reflect years of acquisitions. A single active stretch can reorder the annual table.
Doeren Mayhew has 21 acquisitions in the classified-acquisition universe, behind Ascend at 43, Ryan at 42, EisnerAmper and Aprio at 24 each, and Platform Accounting Group, Sorren and Xeinadin at 22 each.
Its 2026 position is different: Doeren Mayhew is first because its current pace has outrun the firms above it in the cumulative rankings.
The Tracker’s run rate is falling. Doeren Mayhew has nearly matched an entire prior year.
Doeren Mayhew enters the second half as an outlier: one deal short of its entire 2025 acquisition total while the market-wide rolling count is falling.
Ten Platforms Account for 56% of Tracked CPA Acquisitions
Repeat buyers account for a larger share of transactions when the Deal Tracker is narrowed to deals explicitly classified as acquisitions.
The CPA acquisition market is more concentrated than the broader institutional-transaction count suggests.
The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ contains 442 institutional transactions explicitly classified as acquisitions. Ten platforms account for 246 of them — 55.7%, or 56% when rounded.
Across the broader universe of 513 institutional transactions, the top 10 platforms account for 269, or 52.4%.
The broader measure also includes platform formations, minority investments, capital-structure events, network joins and other institutional transactions. Removing those categories raises the concentration rate.
Ascend and Ryan lead the field
Ascend leads the acquisition-only table with 43 tracked acquisitions. Ryan LLC follows with 42.
The next group starts at 24.
EisnerAmper and Aprio have 24 acquisitions each. Platform Accounting Group, Sorren and Xeinadin have 22 each. Doeren Mayhew has 21, Dains LLP 16 and Modern Wealth Management 10.
Together, the 10 platforms account for 246 of 442 classified acquisitions.
No single buyer dominates the record. Concentration comes from a relatively small group buying repeatedly: Ascend and Ryan alone account for 85 acquisitions, while the next six platforms cluster between 21 and 24.
A narrower measure changes the top 10
The broader institutional ranking includes transactions that are not firm acquisitions, so its leaderboard is different.
Across all 513 institutional transactions, Ascend has 44 and Ryan 43. EisnerAmper, Aprio and Platform Accounting Group have 25 each. Crete Professionals Alliance and Citrin Cooperman also appear in the broader top 10.
On the acquisition-only measure, Crete and Citrin fall out of the top 10, while Dains LLP and Modern Wealth Management move in.
The concentration rate rises at the same time, from 52.4% across the broader institutional universe to 55.7% among classified acquisitions.
Concentration builds over time
The 56% figure is cumulative, not a July statistic.
Every repeat acquisition places another target under an existing buyer, concentrating a large number of transactions inside a smaller group of platforms.
Dozens of other platforms still appear in the Tracker. They account for the remaining 196 classified acquisitions.
For an independent firm considering the buyer landscape, the distinction is practical: the record contains many acquirers, but most tracked acquisitions are completed by a comparatively small group of repeat buyers.
Deal Log, Analysis & Leaderboards
July 2026
July delivers fewer transactions than the opening months of 2026, but the deals get bigger and the buyer pool gets tighter. The CPA Trendlines CPA PE Deal Tracker™ records nine institutional acquisitions in July, down from 17 a year earlier, plus two ownership-level funding or control events. All nine acquisitions are made by platforms that already have outside capital.
The month culminates on July 29 with Grant Thornton Advisors’ $5 billion agreement to acquire CBIZ, the largest transaction in the Tracker and the first time a six-time Tracker acquirer is itself acquired outright.
- Leinenweber & Associates (Southern California) acquired by LevitZacks / Ascend (Alpine Investors). Dated July 1, 2026. The transaction is one of three Ascend acquisitions recorded in July.
- Santi & Associates (Southern California) acquired by Wilson Lewis / Ascend (Alpine Investors). Dated July 1, 2026. The transaction is included in Ascend’s July acquisition batch.
- Ham, Langston & Brezina, LLP (Houston) acquired by CohnReznick (Apax Partners). Announced July 6, 2026; effective July 1, 2026. The deal adds 12 partners and 87 employees and expands CohnReznick in Texas.
- RBT CPAs (Newburgh, N.Y.) acquired by UHY (Summit Partners). Announced July 6, 2026. The firm has roughly 175 professionals and expands UHY’s presence in New York’s Hudson Valley.
- LGA (Woburn, Mass.) acquired by Citrin Cooperman (Blackstone). Announced July 7, 2026. The IPA Top 200 firm adds about 150 professionals and expands Citrin Cooperman in New England.
- Meaden & Moore / Meaden & Moore Advisors (Cleveland) receives investment from Unity Partners. Announced July 7, 2026. The transaction brings institutional capital to the platform and is recorded as an ownership-level funding event rather than an add-on acquisition.
- Kreischer Miller (Horsham, Pa.) acquired by Ascend (Alpine Investors). Announced July 9, 2026. The regional accounting firm has roughly 242 professionals and gives Ascend its third recorded July acquisition.
- Prosperity Partners (Chicago) changes sponsors as Lightyear Capital takes control and Unity Partners retains a minority position. Announced July 14, 2026. The transaction is recorded as an ownership-level control event rather than an operating-firm acquisition.
- McMillan, Whiteman & Associates (Punta Gorda, Fla.) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced July 21, 2026. The approximately 15-person firm expands Doeren Mayhew’s Florida presence.
- Sowers & Company (Houston) acquired by Doeren Mayhew (Audax). Announced July 22, 2026. The transaction gives Doeren Mayhew two acquisitions in two days and helps lift the firm to 10 acquisitions through July, the most in the Tracker for 2026 at that point.
- CBIZ (Cleveland) agreed to be acquired by Grant Thornton Advisors (New Mountain Capital). Announced July 29, 2026, at a $5 billion enterprise value. CBIZ reports $2.81 billion in fiscal 2025 net revenue. The transaction is the largest recorded by the Deal Tracker and turns a firm that previously appears six times as an acquirer into an acquisition target.