Citizens Financial Group entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Willamette Management Associates, a valuation consulting and forensic analysis firm with offices in Chicago, Atlanta and Portland, OR.

Founded in 1969, Willamette Management Associates delivers a range of financial advising services to corporate clients and legal professionals. The firm’s services include business valuation, intellectual property valuation and royalty rate analysis, forensic accounting investigations, transaction fairness opinions and solvency opinions, lost profits and economic damages analysis, not-for-profit entity valuation and private investment opinions, transaction financial advisor and due diligence services, and employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) valuation and adequate consideration opinions.

“Clients view Citizens as a trusted partner committed to delivering complete solutions, quality execution and excellent service throughout their business life cycle,” Donald McCree, vice chairman and head of commercial banking at Citizens Financial Group, said. “The addition of the highly regarded Willamette team strengthens our ability to provide sound opinions and valuation services for our clients.”

“We share Citizens’ desire to offer robust advisory capabilities as well as their commitment to exceptional client solutions,” Robert Schweihs, a managing director at Willamette Management Associates, said.

“We look forward to joining the Citizens team and continuing to provide trusted advice to a growing range of clients,” Robert Reilly, a managing director at Willamette Management Associates, said.

The Willamette Management Associates team will expand the valuation services division that Citizens Financial Group acquired as part of its purchase of Western Reserve Partners in 2017. It will also accelerate the build-out of Citizens’ corporate financial advisory capabilities, which includes the 2019 acquisition of Bowstring Advisors and the 2020 acquisition of Trinity Capital Partners.

Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close this quarter, were not disclosed.