Paul Barrett

Professional services company, AZ Next Generation Advisory (AZ NGA) has acquired a strategic stake in prominent mid-tier accounting and advisory firm, McLean Delmo Bentleys, as the group rapidly expands its Victorian footprint.

Melbourne-headquartered, McLean Delmo Bentleys employs approximately 90 staff across accounting, auditing, insurance and wealth management. The multi-disciplinary firm also employs five mortgage broking staff and a number of outsourced personnel.

The business has over 2,000 clients and is part of the Bentleys Network, which was recently listed as number 12 in the Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Australian Accounting Firms.

Paul Barrett, AZ NGA Chief Executive Officer, described McLean Delmo Bentleys as a quality organisation with “an exciting blend of experience and youth”.

“This business has been around for over 50 years, it has a great reputation and rock solid foundations but it still maintains a strong appetite for growth and is looking to the future,” he said.

“For AZ NGA, there are only two reasons to enter into a strategic partnership: capability and capacity. McLean Delmo Bentleys offers both. They are a clear leader in the mid-tier accounting space and this is a significant and important deal for us.”

Chairman of McLean Delmo Bentleys, John Delmo, said the group’s strategic partnership with AZ NGA presented opportunities to build a national household accounting and advice brand, invest in technology solutions, and enhance its client value proposition and employee value proposition.

It also presented an opportunity to accelerate growth through mergers and acquisitions.

In the last seven years, McLean Delmo Bentleys has made five acquisitions including three in 2022.

“Our organic growth is strong but we’re always open to M&A opportunities.”

“The war for talent is making things very difficult for some accounting and advice businesses and many are looking for a partner with capacity and the ability to help them better serve their clients,” Mr Delmo said.

“Our size and scale puts us in a unique position. We are able to provide structure, systems and processes, and opportunities for staff career development and progression.”

“With AZ NGA, we’re in an even stronger position to attract accounting, advice and wealth management businesses.”

Accounting represents the majority of McLean Delmo Bentleys’ revenue, however, Mr Delmo said the group’s wealth management and financial advice arms had been growing quickly.

“We have ramped up our focus on financial advice and wealth management in the past few years, and we believe they will be significant growth engines going forward,” he said.

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