Squar Milner LLP, the largest accounting firm based in Orange County, is beefing up its local presence with a new headquarters location following an active year on the merger front outside of the county.
The fast-growing firm, one of the largest independent accounting and advisory firms in the Western U.S., recently signed a deal to move its headquarters from Newport Beach to the Irvine Towers office complex near John Wayne Airport.
The 43,000-square-foot deal, about a 60% jump in space, will give Squar Milner two of the top three floors at 18500 Von Karman. The Irvine Co.-owned office campus sits alongside the San Diego (405) Freeway in Irvine, a few blocks from the airport.
It’s one of the largest office leases in OC of the past quarter and among the largest recent deals involving a professional services firm, according to year-end brokerage data.
Squar Milner will take space vacated by Banc of California, which moved some operations last year to its Santa Ana headquarters.
The firm will also get top signage on the 10-story building, which is also home to the Business Journal.
It plans to move into the new space later this year.
“We are very excited about the move as (we) have expanded greatly and have a need for space,” said Managing Partner Steve Milner.
The firm was based a few miles away in Newport Beach at 4100 Newport Place, where brokerage data show it leased about 27,000 square feet at the building, which was acquired last year by Newport Beach-based Olen Properties Corp.
Squar Milner employed 184 in OC as of year-end, making it the fifth-largest accounting firm in the area and the largest outside of the Big Four. It has nearly 70 CPAs in its OC offices.
The new headquarters would allow it to expand staff, though Milner didn’t announce a hiring spree.
“It is hard to believe we have grown so much from just a few people when I started in the ’90s,” he said.
The firm reported in November that it takes in about $77 million in annual revenue. It provides tax, audit, accounting, and consulting services to closely held businesses and publicly traded companies, their owners, and middle-to-high net-worth individuals.
It ranked No. 68 among the fastest-growing midsized private companies last year, with two-year revenue growth of 20.1%, according to Business Journal data.
Bay Area Push
Look for more growth following several deals it made outside of OC last year.
Last summer, it announced it would add a number of partners and associates from Sobelman, Cohen, Moss & Associates LLP to its Encino office. The deal was made as part of a company goal to “become the top full-service firm in the San Fernando Valley,” Milner said at the time.
In October, it announced a merger with Campbell-based Loomis & Co. CPAs, one of two big Northern California transactions. The 12-person firm works largely with privately held companies in Silicon Valley.
In November, it followed up with a bigger deal to combine with DZH Phillips LLP, one of the largest accounting firms in the Bay Area, with $20 million in revenue and over 110 professionals and staff.
The DZH transaction made the combined firm one of the top four based in California, one of the top five firms based in the West, and one of the top 50 firms in the U.S., the companies said.
The combination took effect this month, and Milner said last week that the Bay Area mergers “are exceeding our expectations.”
“Their clients were hungry for our specialty services, and our cultures were very similar. We are delighted to assume the role of California’s firm.”
The newly combined Squar Milner is one of just a few accounting firms based in California with substantial operations on both ends of the state, the firms said when the deal was announced.
“We absolutely needed to have sizable operations in Northern California,” Milner said then. “We have a robust client base in technology who are obviously active in the Bay Area.”
Squar Milner employs roughly 460 people following the merger. It has 11 offices, all in California except for a Cayman Islands location.
