Marriott & Co. has deep experience advising family-owned and founder-owned private companies through mergers, acquisitions and ownership transitions. Our professionals bring over 70 years of combined experience navigating the complexities of M&A transactions, while providing objective guidance and “high-touch” client service every step of the way. For many family business owners and founders, a sale or recapitalization is a once-in-a-lifetime decision – we customize each assignment to suit our client’s precise goals, whether that means maximizing value in a full sale, bringing in a partner to fund growth, and/or planning an exit that honors the business’s legacy.
Sell-side advisory services
Marriott & Co. specializes in running highly effective sell-side transaction processes for family-owned and founder-owned private companies who wish to maximize valuation, find the optimal buyer, and close on an efficient timeline. We professionally manage every step of the process with rigorous attention to detail, allowing our clients to focus on running their business. Strict confidentiality is maintained throughout – an especially important consideration for family business owners concerned about employees, customers and competitors learning of a potential sale prematurely.
Our process begins with pre-deal strategic planning to understand our client’s goals, whether that’s a full sale, a partial recapitalization, or a structured transition to the next generation of leadership. We then create best-in-class marketing materials and a thorough buyers list to ensure our client’s story reaches the right audience. All contact with potential buyers is handled by our professionals, and we manage management visits, negotiations and buyer due diligence through closing.
Selling a family business or closely-held company is one of the biggest decisions an owner will make – often the culmination of decades of work. We’re confident in our ability to guide clients through this life-changing transaction with the care it deserves.
Sales to private equity firms, strategic acquirers and management buyouts
Our professionals have unique access to the most relevant buyers of middle market companies, including financial buyers and large strategic buyers in a variety of industries.
Transactions include 100% sales and partial recapitalizations
We have advised clients on transactions ranging from partial sales of companies where the existing shareholders retain a large ownership stake post-transaction to 100% sales. We are adept at running processes that generate multiple unique structural alternatives from which our clients may choose.
Transaction sizes ranging from $10 - $200 million
Our M&A transactions at Marriott & Co. generally range from $10 – $200 million and are in a wide variety of different industries, including business services; consumer and retail; industrials; technology, media and telecommunications; energy; and healthcare.
Buy-side advisory services
Marriott & Co. also offers buy-side advisory services to our core client base of family-owned and founder-owned private companies, as well as to private equity firms, public companies and other acquirers of middle market companies. Services on the buy-side include broad acquisition searches, targeted acquisition negotiations, structural advisory, due diligence and transaction financing advisory. We bring the same level of commitment, expertise and diligence to buy-side assignments as our clients have come to expect on the sell-side.
The Marriott & Co. team did an outstanding job guiding us through this process, which resulted in such a terrific outcome. They share a lot of the same qualities that we value here at WSC – a high-touch approach to customer service, relentless work ethic and extreme competitiveness – so we worked very well together as a collective team.
Patrick Connelly, CEO of W.S. Connelly & Co.