Grant Thornton board approves sale to PE-backed US counterpart

Said Jahani, chief executive of Grant Thornton Australia, told Accountants Daily that the deal would give the firm opportunities to harness emerging technologies and super-charge its growth strategy.

“In a world where clients are just demanding more value from their service providers, that's such a big piece for us,” he said.

“Being able to be part of something at scale that gives you access to some of these solutions and tools, rather than trying to solve that all by ourselves, is a massive step change for us.”

Grant Thornton Advisors is a multinational platform backed by New Mountain Capital, a private equity firm based in New York. It first invested in Grant Thornton Advisers in May 2024, and has since expanded into France, Spain and Belgium.

Jahani said that the decision to make the deal with Grant Thornton Advisors had been driven by “opportunity rather than necessity,” adding that it would help Grant Thornton accelerate its growth.

“We felt we could turbocharge that strategy and what would otherwise take us several years to achieve, we could actually achieve in a much shorter space of time,” he said.

“When you put that alongside the amount of change that is happening in our industry, and the rate of change that is happening in our industry, speed and moving at pace has never been more important.”

The Australian Financial Review reported that people close to the negotiations estimated that the business was worth more than $800 million. If true, this deal would represent the largest private equity investment in Australia’s local accounting industry.

If the transaction were to go ahead, Grant Thornton Australia would continue to be a part of the Grant Thornton International Limited network, including member firms in over 150 markets.

Following the transaction, Jahani anticipated that the firm’s day-to-day operations would remain largely unchanged at first, but clients could soon expect to see benefits from its expanded use of technology and smoother access to a global network.

“It'll be business as usual, at least in the initial period. But with time, having access to some of this technology is definitely going to improve our ease of doing business and speed of doing business,” he said.

He also anticipated that the change would allow Grant Thornton’s younger talent to speed up their own career development.

“One of the things you hear a lot from our younger talent is that some of the tasks that they're doing can sometimes be somewhat repetitive or low level,” he said.

“Being able to actually free them up using technology and give them more opportunity to actually use more judgment, have more face time with clients, is I think where the real opportunity sits for our people.”

Jahani added that the move would future-proof Grant Thornton in an industry facing regulatory, economic and technological upheaval.

“The things that have made us successful over the last 10 years are not the same things that are going to make us successful in the next 10 years, just because of all of that change,” he said.

“Sticking your head in the sand is not an option, and you've got to make some bold moves here if you want to actually make a difference. I genuinely feel that the partners get it and are very supportive of it.”

Jim Peko, CEO of Grant Thornton Advisors and the leader of its multinational platform, welcomed the proposed deal.

“Grant Thornton Australia is a standout firm – with strong momentum, exceptional leadership and a culture that has earned deep respect in its market,” he said.

“Its intention to join our platform reflects a shared ambition: to build something more connected, more capable and more forward-looking for our clients and for our people. Together, we can accelerate growth across the Asia Pacific region while strengthening how we serve clients seamlessly across borders.”