Mergers & Acquisitions

Senior attention for the transaction that defines your company

Selling a business, buying one, or merging with a strategic partner is usually the most consequential transaction a management team will ever undertake. It happens once, it happens under pressure, and it happens against sophisticated counterparties who do this for a living. The outcome turns on preparation, positioning, and negotiation, and on having an advisor whose full attention you actually command.

At the bulge bracket firms, transactions below a certain size are staffed accordingly: the pitch comes from a managing director and the work is done by whoever is available. At Moody Capital, small-cap and lower middle-market companies are not the accounts we take between larger deals. They are our entire practice, and every engagement is led start to finish by senior bankers who have advised companies in over $11 billion in M&A transactions during their careers.

What we do

Sell-side advisory

We manage the complete sale process: valuation analysis, positioning of the business, preparation of marketing materials, identification and confidential outreach to strategic and financial buyers, orchestration of competitive tension, negotiation of price and terms, and management of due diligence through closing. Our objective is simple: the best combination of value, certainty, and fit available in the market, delivered with discretion.

Buy-side advisory

For companies pursuing growth through acquisition, we identify and approach targets (including targets not formally for sale), develop valuation and structuring frameworks, negotiate on your behalf, and coordinate diligence and documentation so your team can stay focused on running the business.

Mergers and strategic combinations

Stock-for-stock mergers, mergers of equals, and combinations involving public companies carry distinctive complexities: exchange ratios, fairness considerations, shareholder approval, and disclosure obligations. As a FINRA-registered broker-dealer with deep public-market experience, we are built for exactly these situations.

Strategic alternatives review

Sometimes the right first step is not a process but a clear-eyed assessment. We help boards and management teams evaluate the full range of paths (sale, merger, acquisition, recapitalization, or remaining independent and raising capital) with candid advice about what each is likely to produce.

Fairness opinions

When a board must demonstrate that a transaction is fair to shareholders from a financial point of view, an independent opinion from a FINRA-registered broker-dealer provides the analytical rigor and the documentation that directors, courts, and shareholders expect. We render fairness opinions for mergers, acquisitions, related-party transactions, and going-private situations.

Joint ventures and strategic partnerships

Not every combination is an acquisition. We advise on the structuring, valuation, and negotiation of joint ventures and strategic alliances, helping clients capture the benefits of partnership while protecting control, economics, and exit rights.

Management buyouts

When a management team seeks to acquire the business it runs, the transaction demands careful navigation of conflicts, financing, and board process. We advise both management teams and boards in buyout situations, and our capital markets capabilities can help assemble the financing that makes the transaction real.

Acquisition financing

This is where our capital markets practice becomes a genuine advantage. Few boutique M&A advisors can also structure the financing that makes a deal possible. We can, including through rights offerings and our proprietary Moody Managed Rights (MMR) structure, which allow a public acquirer to fund a transaction with capital from its own shareholders rather than dilutive placements to outsiders.