E78 Partners Acquires Finance and Accounting Firm Stern Cassello & Associates

by Sharon Florentine • Feb 9, 2023

E78 Partners, backed by private equity firm Further Global Capital Management, has acquired Stern Cassello & Associates, a Chicago-based firm providing tax consulting, compliance and accounting services firm. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

This is technology M&A deal number 39 that ChannelE2E has covered so far in 2023. See more than 2,000 technology M&A deals involving MSPs, MSSPs & IT service providers listed here.

E78 Partners Acquires Stern Cassello & Associates

E78 Partners, founded in 2016, is based in Oak Brook, Illinois. The company has 211 employees listed on LinkedIn. E78’s areas of expertise include corporate finance, financial advisory services, strategic consulting, interim CFO, deal sourcing for PE, pre-acquisition advisory, exit readiness for PE, post-acquisition integration, financial reporting, portfolio company monitoring, operational dashboards, advanced analytics, and business intelligence.

Stern Cassello & Associates is based in Chicago, Illinois. The firm has 22 employees listed on LinkedIn. Stern Cassello provides tax consulting, compliance and related accounting services to individuals, partnerships, limited liability companies, closely held corporations, trusts and estates, as well as fund administration and accounting services to private equity and venture capital funds.

Stern Cassello’s tax expertise enhances E78’s extensive range of finance, accounting and technology solutions. Stern Cassello & Associates will operate as part of E78’s Fund Solutions business unit, which offers outsourced CFO, COO and CCO services, regulatory and compliance solutions, fund administration support and fully managed financial and investor reporting services to private investment funds.

John Signa, founder and CEO of E78 Partners, commented on the news:

“We are delighted to welcome Jim Stern, Sam Cassello, Ofelia Sanchez and the entire Stern Cassello team to E78 Partners. For over three decades, they have earned a reputation as highly specialized tax professionals who understand the myriad of complex challenges partnerships and corporations face, especially those operating in the alternative investment fund industries, and we expect that proficiency to serve as a key component of our broader fund services offering. This is the tenth acquisition that E78 has made over the past three years, but it’s the first of its kind in that we can now offer our clients strategic tax consulting and income tax preparation services, a highly sought-after capability that adds to our already comprehensive suite of services.”

Jim Stern, founder and partner of Stern Cassello and Associates, added:

“We knew this transaction was right for us because both of our organizations share a common vision for what real partnership looks like. In almost no time at all, we feel like we’ve been working together for decades, and that cohesion and camaraderie is a real testimony to how they’ve built their business. We’re excited to be part of E78’s upward trajectory, and we’re eager to leverage the resources that E78 makes available for the benefit of our clients.”

E78 Partners M&A Activity

E78 Partners was founded by private equity professionals. The firm’s 300+ senior industry experts provide private equity firms, portfolio companies and corporate clients with accounting, finance and technology solutions aimed at CFOs, according to E78. Previously in 2022, E78 acquired Cadilus and Macronet; the company has made a total of 10 acquisitions over the last three years, according to Signa, and plans to pursue further acquisitions in the future.