Grant Thornton’s US arm has agreed to buy rival CBIZ Inc. in a deal that could reach $5 billion, making it one of the largest professional services acquisitions in recent years.
After the deal closes in the fourth quarter this year, CBIZ, a financial services and insurance brokerage firm, will be separated into a stand-alone entity backed by New Mountain Capital, a private equity firm, the companies said.
Bob Mulcare and Sean Donovan, managing directors at New Mountain Capital, said in a news release: “We look forward to building on the strong foundations within the Benefits and Insurance Services segment to create a new leading firm dedicated to insurance, retirement and payroll services — providing new opportunities to the clients and team members in that segment.”
The firm did not say if the spinoff insurance services will retain the CBIZ name. CBIZ has a “go shop” period to solicit competing offers until Aug. 27, Reuters reported.
CBIZ, headquartered in Cleveland, brokers property/casualty insurance coverage for businesses around the country and does considerable business in condominium coverage in Florida.
The publicly traded firm reported $409 million in revenue from its benefits and insurance services in 2025, and $682 million for the second quarter 2026, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. That makes it far smaller than some of the largest U.S. brokerages, such as Brown & Brown, which reported Q2 revenue of $1.7 billion. But CBIZ has expanded steadily through more than two dozen acquisitions in the past decade, according to Tracxn and PrivSource, sites that follow mergers and acquisitions.
On the accounting side, the merger deal would make Grant Thornton the fifth-largest U.S. provider of professional, tax and advisory services, behind only Deloitte, EY, KPMG and PwC.
Grant Thornton Advisors said the all-cash deal for CBIZ offers investors a 54% premium to its undisturbed share price and will create a combined firm with revenue of $7.5 billion and more than 34,000 staff globally.
The GT accountancy group has been on an acquisition spree since it sold a major stake to private equity firm New Mountain Capital in 2024. New Mountain will be “investing incremental equity to support the transaction,” backing a new standalone unit for CBIZ’s benefits and insurance business, the firm said.
CBIZ shareholders will receive $55 per share, a 17.8% premium to its previous close. Its shares jumped 17%.
“By combining our multinational platform with CBIZ’s strong market presence, we’re broadening our ability to support businesses through every stage of growth — from early development to global scale,” Grant Thornton Advisors CEO Jim Peko said.
The combined platform will span over 20 countries and territories with more than $7.5 billion in revenue, Reuters noted.
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