Wauwatosa-based accounting and professional services firm Wipfli LLP has acquired Lincolnshire, Illinois-based audit, tax and consulting firm Patke & Associates.
Patke & Associates’ 10 employees and two shareholders will join Wipfli’s more than 2,300 employees, about 250 of whom are in the Chicago area. The firm will do business as Wipfli effective today.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The addition of Patke & Associates provides Wipfli with an opportunity to add specialized resources and build a special industry niche focused on hedge funds,” said Kurt Gresens, Wipfli’s managing partner. “Given our combined knowledge and strength in the financial institutions and financial services industry and our shared dedication to our clients and helping them achieve their goals, this is an excellent addition for our firm.”
Wipfli has been rapidly expanding via acquisition, with a focus on the Chicago market, over the past several years. It is among the 20 largest CPA firms in the U.S.
Since 2018, Wipfli has acquired Deerfield, Illinois-based Kessler Orlean Silver; Denver, Colorado-based Bauerle and Co. P.C.; Ukiah, California-based Price Waterman; South Portland, Maine-based Macpage LLC; and Bedford, New Hampshire-based Howe, Riley & Howe.
Patke & Associates was founded in 1990. Its services include investment partnership and hedge fund audits, surprise examinations for RIAs and tax planning and preparation.
“Patke & Associates is very excited to join Wipfli, a firm with a similar client service philosophy and values,” said Paul Patke, owner and managing shareholder of Patke & Associates. “For our clients, this will broaden and deepen the specialized services we can provide, allowing our team to continue to meet clients’ needs as they face new challenges in the years ahead. For our associates, the combination will provide advanced training opportunities and increased career opportunities as they become associates in a larger firm.”
Allan Koltin, chief executive officer of Koltin Consulting Group, advised both Patke & Associates and Wipfli on the merger.
“Even though Wipfli is one of the fastest growing firms in the country, they continue to be very strategic in their selection of firms they invite to join them and very disciplined in their commitment to ‘going deep’ in the industries in which they specialize,” Koltin said. “Patke loved the opportunity to take their hedge fund practice to the next level and expand their service offerings to their clients and contacts in the financial services industry.”
