London-based chartered accountancy and business advisory firm BKL has acquired Dales Evans & Co, a music industry accounting specialist based on Baker Street, its second music-focused deal since taking private equity backing from CBPE Capital in 2023, a development that matters broadly because it shows a mid-tier firm systematically building sector expertise rather than simply adding headcount, and matters specifically to accountancy professionals because it signals where private equity-backed consolidators see durable value: in specialist client relationships that are hard to replicate at scale.

BKL is a London-headquartered chartered accountancy and business advisory firm founded in the 1980s, backed by private equity firm CBPE Capital since 2023, now operating from North London, the City of London, Canary Wharf, Cardiff and Newcastle with more than 400 staff and 39 partners following its 2024 merger with Wilson Wright.

Dales Evans & Co is a Baker Street-based accountancy practice incorporated in 1993, specialising in accounting, tax and business management for the music and entertainment sector since 1994, acting for artists, managers, producers, record labels and touring musicians. The firm does not appear to maintain a distinct public website.

The deal is BKL's second music-sector acquisition, following its 2024 merger with Alan Heywood & Company, and its sixth overall since CBPE's investment, alongside Landau Baker, CFPro, Wilson Wright and RBS Chartered Accountants. Lee Brook, BKL's chief executive, said the firm brings an exceptional reputation and deep experience in a specialist sector to the combined business.

That pattern points to a deliberate strategy rather than opportunistic buying: rather than pursuing scale for its own sake, BKL is assembling specific sector benches, music and entertainment among them, that command premium fees and client loyalty precisely because they are hard for generalist rivals to replicate.

The firm has reinforced that positioning by recruiting former Big Four partners from Deloitte and PwC, signalling an ambition to combine specialist depth with the technical resourcing typically associated with larger networks.

For the sector, the deal is a reminder that consolidation is increasingly about acquiring defensible niches, not just adding client volume, a distinction Irish practices building sector specialisms of their own will recognise.

Source: Business Sale Report