H.I.G. Capital Announces Strategic Growth Investment in HBK
The Miami firm becomes the first institutional investor in the 1949-founded accounting and wealth management group, which will adopt an alternative practice structure before closing.
NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2026. H.I.G. Capital, a global alternative investment firm with $75 billion of capital under management, said an affiliate has made a strategic growth investment in HBK, an integrated accounting, tax, audit, consulting, technology and wealth management firm. The deal makes H.I.G. the first institutional investor in HBK's 77-year history. HBK's partners will continue to lead the firm, and the transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals.
Founded in 1949, HBK pairs two businesses that rarely sit under one roof at this scale: HBK CPAs & Consultants, a Top 50 U.S. CPA firm by Accounting Today's ranking, and HBKS® Wealth Advisors, a Barron's Top 75 RIA honoree. Vertilocity, the firm's technology advisory practice, rounds out the group. HBK works out of 27 offices across Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, New York, Florida and North Carolina, plus India, serving tens of thousands of clients that range from family-owned and entrepreneur-led businesses to high-net-worth households.
"This partnership marks an exciting new chapter for HBK," said Tom Angelo, Chief Executive Officer of HBK CPAs & Consultants. "In H.I.G., we found a partner that shares our values and our long-term vision, and that recognizes what makes HBK special. With H.I.G.'s resources and experience, we will invest further in our people, our technology, and our client service capabilities."
Chris Allegretti, Chief Executive Officer of HBKS® Wealth Advisors, said the investment is meant to be invisible to clients on the service side. "Partnering with H.I.G. gives us the resources to scale our business and invest in the professionals and technology that matter most to our clients," he said. "HBKS® clients will continue to work with the same advisors, in the same offices, under the same standard of care."
"HBK is one of the most respected firms in accounting and wealth management, with more than 75 years of technical excellence and a reputation built on trusted, long-term client relationships," said Chris Byrne, Managing Director at H.I.G. "We are very impressed with the HBK team and how they have built the firm into an employer of choice across two highly attractive industries."
Ahead of closing, HBK will move to an alternative practice structure, the arrangement that has become standard for accounting firms taking outside capital because state licensing rules bar non-CPA ownership of attest work. Audits and reviews will stay with Hill, Barth & King LLC, the licensed CPA firm, which keeps its name and remains owned and controlled by its CPA partners. Tax, consulting, accounting and technology services move to HBK Advisory Group, LLC, and wealth management stays with HBK Sorce Advisory LLC, doing business as HBKS® Wealth Advisors. Client teams do not change.
William Blair served as financial advisor and Ropes & Gray LLP as legal counsel to H.I.G. Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor and Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC as legal counsel to HBK.
H.I.G. is based in Miami and has invested in and managed more than 400 companies since its founding in 1993. Its current portfolio runs to more than 100 companies with combined sales above $53 billion.