Specialist insolvency firm Clout & Associates has joined KordaMentha, the corporate advisory firm established 12 months ago by Ansett administrators Mark Korda and Mark Mentha.
Perth partners Louis Nilant and Oren Zohar will become partners of KordaMentha.
Mr Nilant said Clout & Associates had planned to become a national firm in its own right, but the opportunity to merge with KordaMentha offered substantial benefits.
"They have a major national brand," Mr Nilant said.
"They are a specialist boutique service in insolvency, and they have national resources with the whole back-up that brings."
Mr Nilant said the two firms would fit together like a glove.
"We expect to get more of the major bank-driven jobs from over east," he said.
Clout & Associates, which has 20 staff in Perth, will adopt the KordaMentha brand on 15 April – exactly 12 months after the firm was established.
As well as the Perth office of Clout & Associates, KordaMentha has linked up with Clout’s Queensland office and accounting firm Duncan Powell in South Australia.
KordaMentha will have a total of 140 staff and offices in all Australian States.
Mr Korda said KordaMentha’s rapid growth in its first 12 months was created by clear market requirements.
"KordaMentha was founded as an independent provider of corporate advisory, corporate recovery and real estate advisory services," Mr Korda said.
"As companies, banks and legal firms reviewed their existing practices and service providers, we saw an increasing requirement for stringent separation of corporate advisory service providers from established audit providers."