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Ryan & Company and Robert Brakel & Associates Ltd. Combine to Create North American Market Share Leader

Press Release Sep 05, 2006

Dallas, Texas - Ryan & Company, America’s largest independent state & local tax consulting firm, today announced that it has combined with Robert Brakel & Associates Ltd. (RBA®), the leading Canadian sales tax recovery firm. Under the amalgamation agreement, unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies on Friday, RBA becomes an operating subsidiary of Ryan & Company.

RBA headquarters, based in Brampton, Ontario, will remain headquarters for Canadian operations. G. Brint Ryan, Managing Principal of Ryan & Company, will serve as Chief Executive Officer of both companies. The combined company is the North American market leader in sales tax consulting and recovery with more than $150 million in annual revenue from the sales and use tax service line. Ryan & Company, with total annual revenue of more than $200 million, now has more than 600 professionals and associates in 26 North American locations, serving clients in the United States and Canada.

Making it Easy

“Prior to today, there was no true single source for U.S. and Canadian sales tax solutions,” said G. Brint Ryan, Managing Principal of Ryan & Company. “The reality, however, is that, for many organizations, these issues are interconnected.”

The combination of the two leading firms within Canada and the U.S. makes sense. “It’s a given today that if you are in Canada, you’re in the U.S., and you need access to expertise on sales taxes across both borders,” said Bob Brakel, Chief Executive Officer of Robert Brakel & Associates.

The alliance between these two firms over the past two years has proven that organizations value the opportunity to get answers to their sales and related tax issues from a source that understands both the Canadian and U.S. regimes better that anyone else. This is the natural next step in ensuring that organizations in need of this depth of service get it.

Getting the Best

“This is more than just access to specialized tax expertise,” said Brakel. “First and foremost, both RBA and Ryan & Company agree that client service is what sets us apart from other ‘practitioners’.” This is evident in the program crafted by RBA to help clients manage Canadian sales taxes on an ongoing basis, including the acclaimed, no voicemail RBA TaxDirect® hotline; the array of course options, including web-based training, available through the innovative RBA Training Program™; access to RBA publications through the RBA Tax Library CD; and the significant advances most recently introduced by RBA in its client reporting package.

“When you provide clients with access to the best people in the field and combine it with the most client-focused service offering available, the client wins. That’s the bottom line and what we've achieved here, in the context of two very unique markets,” said Ryan.

What to Expect

The main benefit to RBA and Ryan & Company clients is combined access to the highest level Canadian and U.S. sales tax and related expertise available anywhere. This will continue to be delivered in Canada through the RBA organization located in Brampton, Ontario. The Canadian management team, and consulting and client support staff remain in place and continue to deliver Canada’s Complete Sales Tax Solution™.

They will bring to the Canadian market deeper access to U.S. state & local tax resources, as well as related practice areas that include fuel and excise taxes, property taxes, telecommunications taxes, franchise taxes, credits and incentives, and tax technology solutions. Clients can even expect to obtain access to Ryan & Company's expanding practice in multistate income taxes, as it affects their business in the U.S.

RBA clients can also expect to see new innovations in review processes and service delivery, as the firms integrate best practices in audit methodologies, software and data analysis, and client reporting needs and requirements.

“All in all, this is the most exciting and innovative development to date in the North American state & local tax market,” said Ryan. “It meets the need of detailed local knowledge in the context of multinational requirements. That’s unique.”

About Ryan

Ryan, an award-winning global tax services and software provider, is the largest Firm in the world dedicated exclusively to business taxes. With global headquarters in Dallas, Texas, the Firm provides an integrated suite of federal, state, local, and international tax services on a multijurisdictional basis, including tax recovery, consulting, advocacy, compliance, and technology services. Ryan is an 11-time recipient of the International Service Excellence Award from the Customer Service Institute of America (CSIA) for its commitment to world-class client service. Empowered by the dynamic myRyan work environment, which is widely recognized as the most innovative in the tax services industry, Ryan’s multidisciplinary team of more than 4,800 professionals and associates serves over 30,000 clients in more than 80 countries, including many of the world’s most prominent Global 5000 companies. More information about Ryan can be found at ryan.com.

MEDIA CONTACT

Melodie Elliott
Director, Content and Communications Marketing
Ryan
972.934.0022
melodie.elliott@ryan.com