told IPA that the firms decided their cultures weren't a fit and it was better not to proceed.
“We just decided that rather than force two cultures together, we could thrive separately,” Autrey said in an interview with IPA, “We’re both good at what we do,” Autrey said. “We’re high-performing firms and will continue to be.” The combined firm would have been called Elliott Penn LLP and would have had approximately $400 million in revenue at the time of the merger. The combined firm would have had 1,400 employees and 16 offices across the South.
Autrey told IPA that he has no regrets about the process and that he believes it wasn't a failure of due diligence. “I’m not sure there’s diligence you can do on culture.” Whitley Penn employs more than 650 people across North Texas, including Fort Worth, Dallas and Plano.