Honolulu certified public accounting firms Kobayashi, Kanetoku, Doi, Lum & Yasuda CPAs LLC and Freitas & Saito CPAs LLP have merged.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

The combined firm, which retained the lengthy Kobayashi name, also does business as KKDLY.

KKDLY founding partner and managing member Alan Kobayashi said Monday the deal "had the qualities of both" a merger and an acquisition.

The combination was undertaken partly because Freitas & Saito co-founder Dick Freitas is planning to retire in about five years, Kobayashi said. "He was in search of a firm" that would fit in with his firm’s culture, "a firm he could also trust to serve the clients he’s been serving for 30 years," Kobayashi said. A corporate matchmaker made the introduction, and the deal was reached after about a year of planning. None of the firms’ collective 50 employees were laid off.

"We value the client relationships we’ve fostered since we opened our firm six years ago, and we are pleased to be able to offer our clients an even greater depth of knowledge and expertise by combining our teams," Freitas said in a statement.

The combined firm offers accounting, payroll, financial planning and tax services, and is operating from separate quarters but will consolidate in stages over time, given current lease agreements.