Begbies acquisition could net Smith & Williamson £7m

SMITH & WILLIAMSON could increase its fees by as much as £7m following its acquisition of Begbies Traynor's tax arm.

The listed firm Begbies Traynor brought in £7m of fees for the year ending 30 April 2011.

The enhanced Smith & Williamson division will now have about 67 partners, which includes 12 from Begbies Traynor. The acquisition brings the firm's total tax staff to 300.

As a result of the acquisition Smith & Williamson is likely to have an annual fee income of about £180m, up from the £171.4m posted in the latest Accountancy Age Top 50+50 survey.

According to information supplied at the time Smith & Williamson's tax division had 50 partners pulling in £31.8m.

The firm bought the division for £2.9m and Begbies Traynor will take 50% of any fees on work in progress that earn more than £5.8m for 2011/2012.

Kevin Stopps, (pictured) MD of tax & business services at Smith & Williamson, said: "We are delighted that such an experienced tax team is joining us; there is an excellent strategic fit between the new team and Smith & Williamson, both in terms of geography and service provision."

Smith & Williamson, which currently has no office in Manchester, will keep the 13-strong Manchester practice and bolster its Birmingham team by taking on an additional 30 people.

Smith & Williamson said there will be no redundancies as part of the aquisition.