Grant Thornton acquires manufacturing specialist MCA Connect

Grant Thornton US, a Chicago-based mid-market accounting and consulting firm, has agreed to acquire MCA Connect, a Microsoft consultancy focusing on the manufacturing and distribution sector.

Founded in 2002, MCA is a 15-time Microsoft partner of the year and a three-time Microsoft global supply chain partner of the year.

The IT consultancy works with manufacturers and distributors on strategy, unified data for business insights, process optimization and automation, AI and advanced decision making, and business application implementation. MCA has expertise across Dynamics 365 CRM and ERP, Azure, Power Platform, Fabric, and Copilot.

The firm has approximately 350 employees and offices in Denver and Houston.

Grant Thornton’s acquisition of MCA will deepen its technology capabilities and footprint in the manufacturing and distribution sector.

MCA will join consulting practice Grant Thornton Advisors. Since its 2024 acquisition by New Mountain Capital, Grant Thornton US has operated in an alternative practice structure, wherein attest services are provided by Grant Thornton LLP and non-attest services are provided by Grant Thornton Advisors.

“MCA Connect brings deep industry expertise and proven technical capabilities in one of the most operationally complex sectors of the economy. Adding those strengths to our multinational platform enhances our ability to help clients modernize how they run their businesses – across borders, industries and time zones,” said Jim Peko, CEO of Grant Thornton Advisors.

Grant Thornton Advisors last year bolted on Stax, a Boston-based M&A consulting firm, and Auxis, a Fort Lauderdale, FL-based business process outsourcing firm.

Since acquiring Grant Thornton US, New Mountain Capital has also acquired 15 other Grant Thornton country member firms – growing its accounting and consulting platform to nearly 25,000 people. The private equity firm is currently in talks to add Grant Thornton Australia to the multinational platform – where the Grant Thornton country firms remain legally separate entities.

“This combination will allow us to scale what makes MCA Connect special: our people, our Microsoft expertise, and our delivery discipline – while also expanding the ways we can help clients modernize faster and with greater confidence,” said David Durham, CEO of MCA Connect.