Venerable accounting firm to merge with younger competitor

St. Petersburg-based Spoor Bunch Franz inks deal with Tampa’s 71-year-old Dwight Darby & Company.

By Business Observer Staff
| 12:43 p.m. September 23, 2021
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Courtesy. Spoor Bunch Franz partners W.G. Spoor, Rich Franz and Steve Bunch, with Dwight Darbyâ€™s Dawn Lopez, who will become a principal at SBF.

Tampa Bay-Lakeland

ST. PETERSBURG — Spoor Bunch Franz, a St. Petersburg accounting firm founded in 2016, plans to merge with Dwight Darby & Co., a Tampa accounting firm that has served the region for more than 70 years.

According to a news release, the merger will become effective Jan. 1, 2022, and will result in SBF having offices on both sides of Tampa Bay. The combined firm will have 77 employees. All 12 Dwight Darby employees will retain their roles, including partner Dawn Lopez, a 28-year veteran of the firm; Lopez will become a principal at SBF.