By Rudolph Bell, From Greenville Online

Greenville is set to be the home base for one of the nation’s top 30 accounting firms now that homegrown Elliott Davis plans to merge with Decosimo of Chattanooga, Tenn.

Rick Davis, managing shareholder of Elliott Davis and leader of the combined company when the merger takes effect Jan. 1, said it would be based in Greenville.

The new firm, to be called Elliott Davis Decosimo, will have $108 million in annual revenue, more than 800 employees and 17 offices in seven states and the Cayman Islands.

“This would move us up into the top 30 accounting firms in the country based on total revenue,” Davis said.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Davis said there are no plans to close any of Decosimo’s nine offices in Tennessee, Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and the Cayman Islands or Elliott Davis’ eight offices in the Carolinas, Georgia and Virginia.

“The footprint is all new in terms of what we gained and we’re not looking at any job elimination,” Davis said.

He said Elliott Davis has enjoyed double-digit growth over the last few years in three of its markets – Charlotte, Raleigh and Richmond – and would pursue the same growth rate in the markets that Decosimo is bringing to the combined company.

“We will continue to look at strategic growth opportunities and we will be focused on how to attract talent and grow in these new markets that we now have as part of our footprint,” Davis said.

Davis said Elliott Davis is already scheduled to expand at its downtown Greenville headquarters, taking over 27,000 square feet being vacated by the McMillan Pazdan Smith architectural firm, which is moving into the former Claussen Bakery on Augusta Street.

The expansion will give Elliott Davis a total of 62,000 square feet in the Broad Street office building, Davis said.

He said the expansion is the result of growth in the firm’s Greenville business and is unrelated to the pending merger.

Nick Decosimo, Decosimo’s managing principal, will join the new company’s Executive Committee.

“We look forward to building upon our individual successes to create a firm with a more powerful regional focus and an even broader array of capabilities and expertise to better serve our clients,” Decosimo said in a news release announcing the deal.

IMAGE: Rick Davis93173.jpg (Photo: FILE )

For more on this story go to: http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/money/business/2014/10/29/merger-make-greenvilles-elliott-davis-top-accounting-firm/18144477/