Jordan Woosley Crone & Keaton Ltd. of Hot Springs has merged with the regional accounting firm Alexander Thompson Arnold PLLC.
The combined firm will operate under the Alexander Thompson Arnold name, according to a news release from the Tennessee-based company. The company will keep its office space on Hobson Avenue in Hot Springs until May, after which it will move into a newly-constructed space in the city at 1720 Higdon Ferry Road.
The merger with JWCK adds 14 employees to ATA’s ranks, including three principals and two partners, Christina Ellis and Courtney Moore.
“Through this merger,” Moore said, “we will be able to provide our community with expertise in subject matters beyond what we have in our local office and will be able to devote more time to client relationships by allowing ATA’s entities to handle administrative responsibilities.”
ATA now has more than 220 employees at 15 locations across Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Mississippi.
John Whybrew, ATA managing partner, said the firm has long been interested in expanding into Arkansas.
“We believe that this strategic merger with JWCK allows the firm to grow in new markets with like-minded professionals as well as continue our multi-year growth plan,” he said in the release.
Arkansas Business ranked JWCK No. 14 on its list of the state’s largest accounting firms.
Mergers and acquisitions in the accounting industry began surging in late 2020 after a pandemic-related slump. Hudson Cisne & Co. LLP of Little Rock and Jones & Co. Ltd. of Jonesboro united to form HCJ CPAs & Advisors PLLC, a team that now numbers about 90 employees.
Five Arkansas CPA firms merged in January 2021 to form Garland & Greenwood CPAs and Advisors PLLC.
Sign up for Daily E-news
