AIM-listed Tenon said it had agreed the terms of a deal that will allow it to increase its scale and coverage of geographic and specialist markets.
The enlarged group created by the takeover will rank seventh in the UK, behind the big four global giants as well as Grant Thornton and Stoy Hayward.
It will have a combined fee income of £250m plus.
The combination of Tenon’s six offices in Scotland with RSM Bentley Jennison’s single outposts in Edinburgh and Glasgow will create a business that generates revenues of around £22m north of the border.
The two businesses currently employ a total of 325 people in Scotland.
However, Tenon highlighted the potential for the deal to generate considerable savings in costs.
The company said it expected to generate synergies of at least £6.3m.
Tenon has pursued an acquisitive growth strategy that involves combining practices and stripping out central costs to save money.
The company gained its Scottish presence through the £20.5m acquisition of Scott Oswald in 2001.
In June, Margaret Laidlaw, managing director of Tenon in Scotland, said it had adapted to the recession by introducing “operating efficiencies and taking out extra costs”, cutting administration staff and transferring a number of its accountants into corporate recovery to cope with the increase in distressed businesses amid recession.
Tenon is the ninth-largest UK accountancy firm with around 1800 staff in the UK and turnover of £150.8m.
RSM Bentley Jennison was founded in Telford in the English Midlands in 1984. The firm acquired its presence in Edinburgh through the acquisition of part of PPS Consulting in 2006.
It ranked 14th in the 2009 league tables of UK chartered accountants compiled by trade magazine Accountancy Age, with £80.3m fee income and around 1100 staff.
Tenon is raising £40m to help fund the acquisition by placing 89 million shares at 45p each.
The placing is fully underwritten.
The company said Lloyds Banking Group was providing additional banking facilities to help fund the purchase and continued expansion.
The enlarged group will go through a rebranding process to become known as RSM Tenon Group.
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