Issue 4 2021

12 Acquisition International - Issue 4 2021 Personnel-Driven Business Middle market investment bank, DGP Capital, serves businesses in the manufacturing, industrial and energy sectors, as well as business services and technology companies that primarily serve these sectors. We speak to Jack Chang about deal appetite in the industry since Covid-19 struck. rimarily providing full-service mergers and acquisitions services (both sell and buy-side representation), as well as obtaining debt and/or equity financing, DGP Capital’s clients range anywhere from closely-held private businesses, to publicly-traded companies. The company’s core values include being candid and honest with clients; combining the team’s “big banking” experience with a personal, hands-on approach to client service; and truly understanding the sectors that it serves. “We feel that our core values are what sets us apart from other M&A advisory firms in the middle to lower-middle market,” explains Founder and Managing Director, Jack Chang. “We often hear of the lack of service quality and industry expertise within lower middle market M&A advisory – that’s the reason we started DGP, to really bring about service quality that’s typically not readily available to lower middle market and privately-held businesses.” Jack has executed over $7 billion in transactions within the energy and industrial sectors, including M&A, Initial Public Offerings, and Private Placements. He holds Series 79, 63 and 82 licenses. Prior to starting DGP, Jack was a Director within GE Venture’s Oil and Gas Investment team. While at GE Ventures, he focused on technology-enabled midstream, downstream and process industry investments. Before GE Ventures, he was an investment banker within UBS’ energy investment banking group. Now, DGP’s clients are primarily private, closely held businesses. Although the firm does work with larger companies and publicly traded ones as well, Jack finds that he really enjoys working with private companies because of the personal nature of the work. “Often, when we assist a business owner in selling their company to a strategic or private equity firm, it is life changing for them and we get a great level of satisfaction knowing that they really appreciate the work we do for them, and that we were are able to guide them personally through the entire transaction process.” DGP keeps in touch with all of its clients, even years after a transaction closes, because the transformational nature of the firm’s work lends itself to a unique bonding experience with each and every client. “We view ourselves as unique as we can balance the personal level of attention to each transaction and client that we provide, with our deep domain expertise and institutional-level investment banking pedigree of our team members. Often times at most M&A firms, you get one or the other, but rarely do you get both.” As well as this strong focus on customer care, Jack attributes much of the firm’s success to its dedicated and experienced team who operate P as a collaborative and close-knit unit to ensure that customer’s needs are constantly met. “This is very much so a personnel-driven business,” he states. “We look for individuals who have proven transaction and/or industry operating experience – our people need to understand the businesses that we serve. People who can think outside the box, synthesize a large amount of data points quickly, and who understand M&A and finance through and through are who we typically seek.” Whilst 2020 was a challenging year, both personally and professionally for Jack, he noticed that the appetite for acquisitions and investing in capital remained quite strong among institutional quality private equity firms and strategic acquirers alike. Having closed four transactions in 2020, DGP learned that buyers and investors were willing to be flexible for the right target, and companies that fared well in a COVID-19 environment were still fetching premium multiples on valuation. “We always say to prospective clients that the best times to transact are when demand is strong, business is booming and when other competitors are delaying their exit plans. Unfortunately, most business owners contemplate a sale as revenues/profitability dip, and when economic cycles trend downward. Those factors lead to an abundance of sellers hitting the market, which translates into lower multiples overall. As such, we really do believe that the near-term future, where overall market conditions are at their height and interest rates are still low, is the best time to contemplate a potential sale or refinancing event.” Regarding the future, Jacks claims it will be very much business as usual. There will be a continued increase of the general industrials market, and a focus on updating the company website to provide in-depth, industry specific information, articles, and resources that business owners in the necessary sectors of coverage can utilise as they plan for the future of their companies. Contact: Jack Chang Website: www.dgpcapital.com Feb21508