Hi, I’m Chris Walton, author of this guide and CEO of Eton Venture Services.
I’ve spent much of my career working as a corporate transactional lawyer at Gunderson Dettmer, becoming an expert in tax law & venture financing. Since starting Eton, I’ve completed thousands of business valuations for companies of all sizes.
Read my full bio here.
From my 15 years of leading a buy & sell-side M&A advisory firm, I’ve seen that each transaction is unique, and requires a collaborative and nuanced approach.
For that reason, many companies are switching from Big Four advisory firms to boutiques who can give them the attention and care they need to navigate deals confidently.
But choosing the right firm can be overwhelming if you’re not sure what to look for.
So, I put together this article, where I’ll go into four factors you should look for in a partner, and recommend eight boutique M&A advisory firms throughout the US.
Each firm has a unique focus area, so you can choose the right one for your unique M&A needs.
Here are the four factors I’d consider when hiring an M&A advisory boutique firm:
Let’s look at each one in turn.
Experience and expertise in M&A are critical as they make sure the advisory firm can handle tricky negotiations and complex regulations well.
Seasoned advisors bring a wealth of knowledge. They can help prevent costly errors and spot opportunities that less experienced firms might miss.
Questions to ask to check for experience and expertise:
A firm that specializes in your specific industry can provide tailored advice that is more applicable and impactful.
They have a deeper understanding of the particular market dynamics and key players, leading to more strategic advice and better deal outcomes.
Check their website or ask them about:
Sectors and industries they specialize in
Names of past clients in your particular sector
The reputation and trustworthiness of a firm tell you a lot about how reliable and good they are at their job.
A well-known firm often gets better deals and makes everyone involved feel more confident.
Check references or testimonials from past clients to gauge for reputation and credibility.
Customer service and support are important both during and after an M&A deal.
You should receive prompt, clear answers to your concerns and questions, and receive guidance throughout the entire process.
This ongoing support is important for smooth post-merger integration and for addressing any issues that might arise afterwards.
For example, at Eton, we are prepared to defend M&A valuations in court later if necessary.
In this article, I’ll go into how my M&A advisory firm, Eton Venture Services, excels in these areas.
And I’ll introduce you to seven other trusted boutique M&A advisory firms in the US.
Here are the top 8 Boutique M&A Advisory Firms in the US I recommend from my decades of experience in the industry:
Below, I’ll explain why I recommend them.
📚 Related read: 7 Top M&A Consultants for Hire in 2024
Revenue Range: $5M – $150M
Years of Experience: 15
Specialty: Private equity firms, investors, high-net-worth individuals
Based in: Austin, TX (but we work with clients from all over the United States)
At Eton Venture Services, we help companies with revenues between $5M and $150M navigate M&A deals with confidence.
We support PE firms, investors, and high-net-worth individuals with both sales and acquisitions, and all the advisory support needed in between.
Our team of Big-4 trained CFOs and legal experts strive to understand your needs and deliver audit-proof, robust, and prompt M&A support.
Being a boutique firm, we take pride in providing individual attention to our clients.
Every Eton client is assigned a senior M&A advisory expert. And I, the CEO, will be your key contact throughout your journey with us.
Whatever you need, I am always one call or email away.
Here’s how Eton excels in the four factors we listed above:
| Factor 1: Experience & Expertise | We’ve worked in the business valuation and M&A industry for over 15 years and have helped thousands of high-growth startups, private equity firms, and high net worth individuals. Our experts understand the complexity of M&A, and have a proven track record in helping clients gain confidence through superior valuation and advisory services. |
| Factor 2: Specialization | We are a business valuation and advisory company. We support PE firms, investors, and high-net-worth individuals with both sales and acquisitions, and all the advisory support needed in between. |
| Factor 3: Reputation & Credibility | Eton's credibility in the M&A space is well-established with a strong track record of successful engagements and positive client testimonials. Some of our clients include Dutchie, Cedar, Healthcare Highways Inc., Spring Health, Pinterest, Loci, and Northwoods Capital Management. |
| Factor 4: Customer Service & Support | We offer ongoing support (even after the engagement ends) and will defend M&A valuations in court if needed. You’ll have direct access to me, the CEO, throughout our engagement. |
To give you a better idea of how we can help, here’s a comprehensive list of our M&A services:
Assess target companies, divisions, or assets to help determine appropriate bidding prices, negotiation strategies, and optimal structures while identifying potential risks and synergies.
Evaluate the sustainability and quality of a target company’s earnings, providing insights into its financial health and potential for future growth.
Perform fair value assessments of tangible and intangible assets acquired in a business combination, ensuring compliance with financial reporting standards.
Assist clients in conducting annual goodwill impairment tests to determine if any write-downs are required, adhering to relevant accounting standards.
Appraise intellectual property assets, such as patents, trademarks, copyrights, licenses, and customer lists, which are critical components of many M&A transactions.
Provide independent fairness opinions to boards of directors, ensuring that proposed transactions are fair to shareholders from a financial perspective.
Offer guidance and support throughout the M&A process, from due diligence and deal negotiation to closing and post-transaction integration, addressing both financial and strategic aspects.
Provide expert valuation and financial analysis services for M&A-related litigation, including purchase price disputes, earnout disputes, and breach of contract claims.
On top of M&A, we are also experts at other types of business valuations, such as:
We work with businesses of all sizes and industries from established businesses to small start ups and fast growing scale ups.
We match each of our clients with a valuator who has the necessary industry experience and insights to ensure a seamless and accurate process.
Here are some of our recent clients:
And this is the type of experience they have:
Revenue Range: $10M – $200M
Years of Experience: 24
Specialty: Lower middle market companies in consumer, industrial, and technology sectors
Based in: Chicago, IL
If you’re looking for an expert in the consumer, industrial, or technology sector, Fultonbridge is a good choice. They can help you with:
Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Chicago, the firm has worked globally on total transactions of over $10 billion, with over half of its assignments completed for repeat clients.
Unlike Big-4 firms, the advisors at Fultonbridge stress on not using cookie-cutter approaches, but carefully understanding your goals to provide tailored services.
Revenue Range: $10M – $1BN
Years of Experience: 5
Specialty: M&A and Corporate Debt Advisory for Healthcare companies
Based in: Tampa, FL
Three Sixty Seven Advisors is a boutique M&A advisory firm based in Tampa, Florida.
Although it helps middle-market companies across all sectors with M&A and corporate debt advisory, it excels in healthcare transactions.
Recently, the team served as the exclusive advisor to BioSpine Institute in its successful transaction with Praesentia Healthcare, a leading healthcare services organization.
367 Advisors has also helped other healthcare providers navigate M&A deals, like:
Experienced M&A professionals at Three Sixty Seven Advisors bring a broad range of perspectives and data points to spot and solve problems that could disrupt a deal before they happen.
They have an exceptional close rate, according to their Managing Principal Graham Woodard, which is a testament to their hard work and expertise.
📚 You might also like: 7 Top Healthcare Valuation Firms in 2024
Revenue Range: Not publicly available
Years of Experience: 11
Specialty: Technology, media, communications, and life sciences sectors
Based in: New York
M+A Squared is a boutique advisory firm specializing in cross-border M&As for technology, media, communications, and life sciences sectors.
Some of its cross-border M&A work includes:
Client | Transaction | Industry |
Ripe (New York) | Acquisition by Hungry Marketplace (Washington DC) | Food Tech |
Archer (Ukraine) | Acquisition by Cprime (US) | Software |
CAC (Japan) | Acquisition of Mitrais (Indonesia) | IT Services |
M+A Squared advise on both sell-side and buy-side.
For sell-side advisory, their experts take care of the entire process so their clients can focus on day-to-day operations:
For buy-side advisory, they use their global network of relationships to:
If financing is required, they use their connections with money lenders to find affordable financing options.
Revenue Range: $2M – $100M
Years of Experience: 13
Specialty: Architecture, Engineering, and Construction sectors
Based in: US and Canada – based in Las Vegas, NV
Blackcastle Partners is a well-known M&A advisory company in the AEC—Architecture, Engineering, and Construction sector. They are trusted by both U.S. and Canadian firms in this field.
Blackcastle Partners offers the following services:
The team has extensive experience in AEC. Within it, they have worked with the following sub-sectors:
While this is their main niche, they have also had clients in the following industries:
Revenue Range: $25M – $250M
Years of Experience: 35+
Specialty: Founder-led and family-held businesses
Based in: Southport, CT
Carter Morse & Goodrich specializes in representing founder-led and family-held businesses valued between $25 million and $250 million.
The firm’s goal is to achieve maximum value in a transaction, and they use their 35 years of investment banking experience to consistently achieve this goal.
Their team of senior bankers with an average of 25 years of experience has completed 450+ client engagements with a total transaction value of $5Bn+.
They have a comprehensive service strategy that combines the following:
CMG’s services include:
The team also believes in giving back. They actively participate in local education programs, youth sports programs, and hospitals and clinics.
Revenue Range: $1M – $100M
Years of Experience: 17
Specialty: Manufacturing, Distribution, Service and Construction industries
Based in: Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, Austin & Houston
MDR & Associates is a comprehensive business valuation and M&A advisory firm. It helps sell Companies in the manufacturing, distribution, service and construction industries for maximum value.
They offer the following services:
2. Buying: The firm uses its network of hundreds of companies considering or planning to sell soon to find you a buyer.
3. Business financing: The advisors are well versed in all types of capital requirements and have a solution for most financing needs, such as:
They have completed over 200 transactions in the last 17 years.
Revenue Range: $25M – $300M
Years of Experience: 18
Specialty: Sales, divestitures, mergers, and expansion through acquisition of middle-market businesses
Based in: Dallas, TX
Kratos Capital is an independent M&A advisory firm that specializes in the following for a broad range of sectors:
It is a client-centric firm, with a focus on quality over quantity.
It boasts a high-touch approach of a boutique agency along with the resources of a large firm.
Kratos Capital has completed over 200 transactions, with a total of over $1 billion dollars in completed transactions in the private middle market.
Routinely, the methods the firm uses result in attractive initial offers, and clients closing a deal at or above their initial valuation range.
Here’s the comparison chart of the different boutique advisory firms listed above.
# | Firm | Revenue Range | Years of Experience | Specialty | Based In |
1 | Eton Venture Services | $5M – $150M | 20 | Private equity, investors, high-net-worth individuals | Austin, TX (but we work with clients from all over the United States) |
2 | Fultonbridge | Not publicly available | 24 | M&A advisory and capital raising for the middle market | Chicago, IL |
3 | Three Sixty Seven Advisors | $10M – $1BN | 5 | M&A and Corporate Debt Advisory for Middle-Market Companies | Tampa, FL |
4 | M+A squared | Not publicly available | 11 | Cross-border M&A at the intersection of technology, media, communications, and life sciences | NY |
5 | Blackcastle Partners | $2M – $100M | Not available | M&A advisory for the AEC sector | Las Vegas, NV |
6 | Carter Morse & Goodrich | $25M – $250M | 35+ | Founder-led and family-held businesses | Southport, CT |
7 | MDR & Associates | $1M – $100M | 17 | Manufacturing, distribution, service, and construction sectors | Dallas, TX |
8 | Kratos Capital | $25M – $300M | 18 | Sales, divestitures, mergers, expansion through acquisition | Dallas, TX |
Have more questions about boutique M&A advisory firms? I answer them below:
An M&A boutique firm is a specialized advisor focused on mergers and acquisitions.
Unlike larger investment banks, these firms are smaller and provide personalized services.
They guide clients through the entire merger or acquisition process, which includes identifying potential partners, valuing businesses, negotiating terms, and facilitating the deal’s closure.
M&A boutique firms often have deep knowledge in specific industries (e.g. healthcare, technology, or engineering), which can be especially helpful for complex transactions.
Here are five key reasons why you should choose a boutique M&A firm:
You receive personalized attention due to smaller client rosters, ensuring high-level involvement and availability from senior advisors throughout your transaction.
You benefit from deep industry insights and specialized knowledge, as many boutique firms focus on specific sectors or transaction types, which is crucial for complex deals.
With less bureaucracy than larger firms, boutique firms adapt quickly to your changing needs, offering innovative solutions and faster deal execution.
You enjoy direct engagement with senior-level experts (like me) who bring extensive experience to every aspect of your deal, helping you navigate M&A complexities effectively.
Boutique firms typically have lower overheads, allowing them to offer more competitive pricing. This makes them a cost-effective choice for high-quality advisory services.
At Eton Venture Services, we’ve helped hundreds of private equity firms, high net worth individuals, and investors navigate M&A deals with confidence.
We understand that every M&A transaction is unique, which is why we provide personalized attention to each of our clients.
You’ll have direct access to me, the CEO, and a senior M&A advisory expert dedicated to your project, ensuring that you receive the expert guidance you need at every step.
Our Big-4 trained experts can also help you with whatever valuations you need along the way, whether it’s M&A valuations, 409A valuations, or portfolio valuations. We defend our valuations in court too, if needed.
Our commitment to excellence is reflected in our strong track record and positive feedback from esteemed clients like Dutchie, Cedar, and Pinterest.
You can read all the testimonials here.
Schedule a free consultation meeting to discuss your valuation needs.
Chris co-founded Eton Venture Services in 2010 to provide mission-critical valuations to venture-based companies. He works closely with each client’s leadership team, board of directors, internal / external counsel, and independent auditor to develop detailed financial models and create accurate, audit-proof valuations.
