at $1 billion, fti should be ranked among the top 10 accounting firms.
but it’s a distinction they might decline — because they’re a new breed of accounting firm.
fti consulting, inc. (fcn on the nyse) provides consulting services to organizations confronting legal, financial, and reputational issues worldwide. it works in litigation, investigations, restructuring, bankruptcy, mergers and acquisitions, governmental regulation and legislation, economic analysis, reputation management, strategic communications, and the retrieval and management of electronically stored information.
fti was founded in 1982, but has surged since acquiring the corporate finance practice of pricewaterhousecoopers and forensics and m&a practices of arthur andersen and kpmg. today it has about 3,000 staffers, many of them cpas.
the company made a big splash on other side of the pond in march when it bought london-based forensic accounting llp, in a clear bid to compete with the big four and adding 400 people to its u.k. operation.
forensic accounting is the seventh purchase fti has made just this year. in february, fti bought european consulting firms brewer consulting and blueprint partners.
it doesn’t hurt, either, that company’s stock has doubled in the last 12 months.