Financial Index Wealth Accountants and Crowe Horwath Australia have entered into exclusive talks for the latter's acquisition.

Financial Index Wealth Accountants, the Australian financial planning advice and wealth accounting firm, has agreed to acquire the local entity of a US accounting and advisory company for a yet-to-be-determined amount. 

Under the process agreement between the FIWA and Crowe Horwath Australia, the former will acquire all of the shares in Crowe by way of a scheme of arrangement, which sets an exclusivity period that ends in 30 July 2014. This means that Crowe must not entertain any expression of interest or proposal to any third party in relation to a competing transaction. 

The US company's Australian business had been in exclusive discussions with Anchorage Capital Partners until 19 March 2014, but a deal did not materialise. If successful, this will be the second acquisition by FIWA since it took over Centric Wealth for A$130 million ($117.5 million) in January 2014, as reported by this publication. 

Crowe Horwath Australia, formely known as WHK, has a network of around 300 offices and more than 3,000 principals in the country and New Zealand.