Who we are, what we do
GulfStar is one of the leading middle market investment banking firms in the United States. With more than 750 completed transactions and 34 years in business, we help business owners succeed by offering a depth of negotiating experience, strategic and valuation insights and transaction guidance you simply will not find elsewhere – or by attempting to navigate the transactional waters alone. Our managing directors have combined 250+ years of transactional experience and think like business owners – because we are business owners. We recruit top talent and foster a culture that is personally invested in the results we help our clients achieve. Our services include mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity private placements, and technical financial advisory services. We serve entrepreneurs, family-owned businesses, corporations and private equity firms across a variety of industry sectors. We invite you to talk to us, define your goals, and think big.
What makes us different?
Our team truly understands the mindset of business-owning entrepreneurs and families. We are business owners ourselves and many of us have spent our entire careers representing entrepreneurs and family-owned businesses. Many of our clients are undertaking what may be the first and last deal they ever do. As such, it is critically important that every deal receives the personal attention that ensures successful completion with precision and care. An extraordinary duty of care is an obligation that we view as fundamental to our business. We are your advocate and your partner for the journey. We strictly enforce your best interests in everything that we do, and we will go to the mat for you in ways that you will not be able to conceive up-front yet will be readily evident when your transaction closes.
Global reach for strategic buyers and sellers
While GulfStar has closed numerous cross-border deals, they have increasingly become a larger part of our business. GulfStar has closed transactions in 38 states and with buyers and sellers from 18 foreign countries.
The history of GulfStar
The history of GulfStar Group dates back to 1990 when the senior investment bankers of Rotan Mosle, the southwest middle-market subsidiary of PaineWebber, acquired its investment banking business. As PaineWebber moved to consolidate its operations in New York, our founding partners saw an opportunity to create a dominant, advisory-only investment banking boutique in the Southwest through a fundamentally differentiated business model: managing every engagement with senior investment bankers who have the experience, knowledge and transactional leadership skills to consistently deliver superior results for our clients. Our unwavering commitment to this core tenet has resulted in the successful execution of more than 750 transactions since 1990.
Because virtually 100% of our business comes by way of referral, we are extremely proud of the fact that just about every one of these deals is the result of a relationship-level referral from a previous client, a transactional counterparty or a professional service provider.
Begin with the end in mind
When you decide the time has come to sell your business, it is critical that you assemble the right team of experts to ensure an optimal outcome. Analyzing, architecting, navigating and managing strategic transactions is all we do – and this has been our singular focus for over 34 years. As such, we bring the full range of our market knowledge, transaction expertise and strategic advice to bear to help you achieve your financial and personal objectives. We directly measure the success of our processes by the end-results, and how those results compare to initial expectations. The GulfStar process delivers palpable competition from multiple industry and/or financial buyers, producing transaction results that frequently close at or above the upper end of our initial valuation range. Beyond driving valuation, we take great satisfaction in the peace of mind that our clients have knowing they’ve done the absolute best for their families, their company, their employees and their customers.
Education of alternatives
Before engaging in a transaction, we take the time to thoughtfully educate you on all the alternatives available in today’s market. This includes discussions about your personal and financial objectives as well as front-end valuation and positioning analyses to identify areas of opportunity and areas of potential challenge. Because the transaction process is complex and highly dynamic, we go to great lengths to ensure you have a fundamental understanding of every process element, so you can make fully informed decisions well ahead of the process.
Preparing for the market
GulfStar thoroughly analyzes your company from the perspective of a potential buyer or investor. We work closely with you and your management team to develop a detailed, fully custom confidential memorandum that thoughtfully and logically expresses your company’s unique story. GulfStar is renowned for the quality and substance of its marketing materials, as we utilize deep analytics to illustrate valuable embedded financial attributes; fully explore the intangible characteristics of your business that manifest in long-term competitive advantages; and guide management in the construction of a highly detailed financial model and forecast that credibly reflects the important financial trends and opportunities inherent in your business.
Marketing, negotiating and closing
We know the middle market, and middle-market buyers know us. As a result, we can present your business on a confidential and highly controlled basis to the most appropriate group of qualified strategic and private equity buyers. Our individually tailored processes generate significant transactional competition that is a critical valuation driver in the current market. Once we’ve established the agreed-to commercial terms of your deal, we not only work closely with your management team to navigate the confirmatory due diligence process, but we also work closely with your transactional legal advisors in contract negotiations and closing mechanics.
Industries
We truly understand the market factors you deal with every day
Unrivaled expertise in a broad range of industries