BrazilAndersen Global adds Saudi Arabia presence with Alrikaz Tax Consultants
Andersen Global has continued its Middle Eastern push with the addition of Alrikaz Tax Consultants as a collaborative partner in Saudi Arabia.
With debuts and expansions in dozens of international locations over the past year or so alone, including an entry into Dubai with GN Global Consulting and an earlier expansion with the Lebanon-based Alem & Associates, the worldwide march of the Andersen Global name continues unabated with the latest addition to its network; Alrikaz Tax Consultants in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Operating with a staff over 100 from five offices in the Kingdom, including in Riyadh, Jeddah, Khobar and Al -Madina Munawarah, Alrikaz has established itself over the past ten years as a leading independent local firm specialised in Tax & Zakat Consultations – the latter a form of alms-giving paid as an obligatory tax in the Islamic religion. The firm also provides training services and VAT-related advisory.
“Saudi Arabia is critical to any firm’s strategy for growth in the Middle East, so it’s a considerable collaboration on our part that we are working with the best of the best in Saudi Arabia,” Andersen Global Chairman and Andersen Tax LLC CEO Mark Vorsatz said of the agreement. “We’re starting at the top and can only go higher from here.”
Boasting a substantial customer base of high-profile international and Saudi companies, Alrikaz is headed by Managing Director and CEO Abdulmohsen S.F. Alkahtani, a former professional with Andersen Global predecessor Arthur Andersen, with support from Ahmed Ismail (a 20-year veteran with KPMG) and Abdelrahim Elbakheit as Senior Directors – the latter who also started out with Arthur Andersen in the late 90s.
“I started my career with Arthur Andersen,” said Alkahtani. “When you start out with the foundation of being the absolute best in tax consulting and the very best in client service, it’s something you work to replicate the rest of your career. Needless to say, Arthur Andersen’s values and the way they did business is exactly what we aim to provide for our clients.”
Elbakheit adds; “Andersen Global is just so different from a traditional professional services organisation, so the opportunity to jump on board is flattering and exciting. We will work to continue to exceed expectations for our Saudi and foreign clients. The collaboration with Andersen Global only enhances our reach, depth and width, and our ability to do so.”
The collaboration agreement with Alrikaz in Saudi Arabia follows not only the expanded Middle East presence in the UAE and Lebanon through GN Global and Alem & Associates at the beginning of the year (following a regional MENA launch last year in Egypt), but further recent additions in Jordan (law firm Zalloum & Laswi) and Kuwait, with accounting and corporate secretarial service’s firm Solutions Bridge.
Altogether, Andersen Global’s international association of independent member firms has grown since its 2013 inception to now boast a presence in 121 locations worldwide, with a collective headcount in excess of 3,500 professionals. In addition to the firm’s push in the Middle East, Andersen Global has in recent months added African bureaus in Kenya, Mozambique and Angola among others in Europe and Latin America.
