Advisor Industry Awards: The Top 12 Deals of 2024

Axial first introduced quarterly League Tables in 2019 to recognize the top Investment Banks and M&A Advisory Firms on Axial based on platform data and activity.

Now, for the second year in a row, we’re spotlighting individual Axial sell-side members with the Advisor Industry Awards, celebrating the top closed deals of 2024 across 12 unique industries.

Nominations came from a combination of Axial’s research and business development teams, who reviewed more than 2,000 deals and took into consideration the following attributes of the deals and firms that represented them:

• Marketed on Axial
• Minimum $500K EBITDA
• Closed in the 2024 calendar year
• The amount of buyer interest generated (measured by pursuits)
• The advisor’s method of selectivity in distributing the deal

The deal did not have to close via the platform with an Axial buyside member to be considered.

Congratulations to these featured Axial members!

2024 Closed Deal Details By Industry

Average Revenue, EBITDA, & Buyer Interest

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Median Revenue, EBITDA, & Buyer Interest

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Agriculture

Royce Yorgason, who has been with Bristol Group since 2019, advised Darren Cox, a fourth-generation beekeeper, on his recent sale of Cox Honey of Utah. Cox Honey produces honey, provides pollination services, sells bees, and engages in other honey-bee-related efforts.

While in his early 20s, Darren purchased 120 hives from his father, carrying the family’s decades-long legacy in the honey industry down to another generation. Although he maintained a full-time role in an unrelated industry for a number of years, Darren gradually acquired additional hives and eventually became a full-time beekeeper and honey producer in 2002 when he acquired his father’s company.

In 2008, Cox Honey acquired Meyer Honey — a similar business with operations in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Today, Cox Honey of Utah is a premier beekeeping operation with national recognition and long-term harvesting agreements for both honey production and pollination.  

Bristol Group, an Axial member since 2010, has closed five deals on Axial in the past two years.

Arts & Entertainment

Good Times Adventures — the leading provider of snowmobile tours and dog sledding experiences in Breckenridge, Colorado — was founded in 1986 with a trailer, and handful of guides, and a small fleet of older, mismatched snowmobiles.

After expanding its offering in the mid-90s through a partnership with a local dog sled kennel, Good Times was acquired by a new family in 1998. The businesses continued to expand with new machines, new trails, and new guides

Today, Good Times is located on 48 acres of scenic property throughout the Swan River Valley, offering incredible views as tours reach the top of the Continental Divide. In addition to unforgettable snowmobile and dog sled tours, Good Times operates the largest purebred Siberian Husky kennel in the continental US.

Tim Dailey, co-founder of Peakview Partners — an Axial member since 2018 — served as the exclusive M&A advisor to Good Times in its sale to Saturn Five, a Colorado-based private equity firm. Jed Helvey of Saturn Five said, “We’ve closed multiple transactions with the Peakview team, and working with them has been great. On this transaction, we worked together to effectively navigate an unusual business permitting process. They know how to get deals done efficiently.”

Business Services

Arketi Group is a public relations and digital marketing solution for B2B technology businesses. Arketi helps its clients engage audiences, fill funnels, and convert prospects to customers with messaging, branding, and demand generation. The businesses’ services span the breadth of marketing and public relations, including messaging, branding, content, design, demand generation, awareness, research, media relations, and product marketing.

TobinLeff, a Pittsburgh-based investment bank, and Axial member since 2019, served as the M&A advisory firm to help Arketi Group secure a majority investment from the PE Groups Go Capital and Station Partners.

“At Arketi, we’re focused on enabling every marketing communications professional – inside our company and outside our walls – to realize their potential. Our partnership with Go Capital and Station Partners helps us build on that mission,” says Mike Neumeier, APR, Arketi Group co-founder and CEO. “I have known team members at TobinLeff for more than a decade, so I knew when it was our time to seek an equity partner or sell, they would be our advisory firm. It was a good decision – they brought us multiple potential financial and strategic buyers and investors and guided us through every step of the process.”

TobinLeff partner Janet Tyler added, “We couldn’t be happier for the Arketi team on this exciting next chapter. This collaboration will propel Arketi’s impact in the B2B technology space, giving their clients even greater resources to achieve success and innovation. It’s been an honor to support Arketi through this journey, and we look forward to seeing the transformative growth ahead.”

Consumer Goods

Keith Wegen of Flatirons Capital Advisors — a decade-long Axial member — was brought in to help Power Assemblies and ATI Electrical Supply (both businesses are under the same ownership) execute a recapitalization with a strategic partner who was experienced in value-added distribution. Ownership’s goal in this two-pronged transaction was to grow the business(es) with deeper financial backing and make room for an exit in the next five years.

Power Assemblies manufactures a wide array of products, including cable assemblies, portable transformer carts, CAM panels, load banks, switchgear, and other ancillary products. The company sells its products through distributors and serves the commercial and industrial channels of distribution.

ATI Electrical Supply is headquartered in Pompano Beach, Florida with a second location in Henderson, Nevada. The company distributes cable assemblies, connectors, cable management products, and power distribution accessories for commercial and industrial applications. These products are traditionally used in temporary/backup power, portable power for entertainment, and manufacturing in low and medium-voltage applications.

Education

Khaled Azar, founder of boutique advisory firm Livmo, represented the seller in the $15 million acquisition of a leading kids’ educational app during his tenure at The Magnolia Firm. The app, which blends education and entertainment for children aged 3–13, achieved 50 million downloads, 250,000 five-star reviews, and 95% recurring revenue from 85,000+ subscribers, making it a standout in the competitive SaaS landscape. When in market, the business had a 97% EBITDA margin.

Khaled, who launched Livmo in 2024 to focus on scalable digital exits, structured a competitive auction that attracted strategic buyers and closed in 4.5 months. “It is deeply satisfying to facilitate the handover of a mission-focused enterprise to an entity that is dedicated to expanding its impact,” said Khaled. “We were proud to work across all parties to get this smoothly to the finish line.”

The Magnolia Firm, a California-based business broker, joined Axial in 2022 and has represented 26 deals on the platform. Livmo, which is also based in California, became an Axial member late in 2023 and has represented seven deals on Axial to date.

Energy & Renewables

Founded in 2008, 1888 Industrial Services specializes in maintenance, fabrication, transportation, and construction services, catering specifically to diverse industrial end markets. Since its founding, the business has rapidly grown from just six employees to 400+. Although headquartered in Greeley, Colorado, the company boasts multiple locations in Colorado, Texas, and New Mexico, with the capability to conduct operations nationwide.

After enlisting Axial member Jason Wallace of JT Wallace Investments as its sell-side advisor, 1888 officially went to market in the summer of 2023. Jason has worked on 170+ transactions across energy, infrastructure, real estate, CPG, and agriculture — remarkably, 1888 was JT Wallace’s first Axial project on day one of membership.

“The company — while profitable and top-tier — is in a difficult industry for sale,” said Wallace, “and Axial provided access to buyers we would not have otherwise touched.”

A relatively new private investor who had joined Axial just five months before receiving the 1888 project pursued the deal right away, ultimately sourcing the third addition to their portfolio in 18 months. About six months later, the transaction closed.

Financial Services

Founded more than four decades ago, this third-party administrator is a nationwide provider of medical claims administration and consulting services for trust funds and custodial arrangements. The business works with a number of different types of clients, including self-insured entities, federal government agencies, insurance carriers, and personal injury attorneys and their clients.

The project was marketed by Matt Coyne, President of Brandywine Mergers & Acquisitions, in mid-2023, receiving more than two dozen pursuits on the Axial platform; its 21.01% pursuit rate was more than double the average rate. The deal was on the market for a total of 264 days before closing.

Brandywine Mergers and Acquisitions has been an Axial member since 2010 and has represented 124 deals on the platform. 

Food & Hospitality

Chalet Desserts is a Sacramento, California-based premier wholesale bakery servicing retailers and dessert manufacturers nationwide. Chalet produces specialty frozen bakery desserts and inclusions. The Company sells finished products, such as cake pops, to supermarkets and convenience stores and inclusions to ice cream manufacturers.

Wood Warren advised Chalet Desserts on the sale to Encore Consumer Capital, which closed in May 2024. Brian Kerester, a partner at Wood Warren and long-time Axial member, said they had known Encore for over 15 years. Encore introduced Wood Warren to Chalet in January 2022. At the time, the Company was too small for Encore.

Wood Warren posted the deal on Axial in mid-2022 and received multiple indications of interest. “We withdrew from the market in late 2022 and returned in the spring of 2023 after the company demonstrated substantial growth in revenues and EBITDA and expanded its production capacity,” said Kerester. “Most buyers who expressed interest in Chalet were sourced via the Axial platform, with the deal ultimately receiving more than 10 IOIs and LOIs due to Chalet’s strong fundamentals and rapid growth.”

Kerester and his team approached Encore in 2023 and ultimately closed the sale with them in May 2024. “I continue to follow the Company closely and can say that Encore has proven to be an excellent partner for Chalet and is supporting its continued growth. While our engagement spanned over two years, we are proud of the outcome and believe our participation on the Axial platform created significant value for Chalet and Wood Warren.”

Industrials

REI Utility Services is a specialized engineering and technical field service provider serving the power utility end market. REI offers comprehensive, turnkey joint-use management services for electric cooperatives in Texas, including pre-attachment contract management, field analysis, permitting, make-ready engineering, post-attachment pole audits, inspections, violation remediation, and ongoing regulatory support.

As REI continues to expand its footprint across Texas and the broader United States, it remains committed to upholding its core values of Reliability, Ethical, and Integrity, that has defined its approach from the beginning.

REI was represented by Michael Rubin, founder and CEO of Gratia Equity Partners, who joined Axial just two months before launching this deal on the platform. REI was on the market for only 143 days from its market date to close, with LP First Capital successfully closing the transaction.

Healthcare

Timothy Groth, MD PC, is a multidisciplinary medical practice specializing in pain management and chiropractic care. Established in 2005, the practice provides advanced treatments like epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, and radiofrequency ablation. They also offer non-surgical disc decompression, medication management, and personalized chiropractic care for conditions such as back pain, disc herniations, and sports injuries.

Dr. Groth sought growth capital to expand the practice’s locations and services. Additionally, the practice needed strategic guidance to strengthen its management team and transition operational responsibilities from the founders to the next generation of leaders in partnership with the CEO.

Dr. Groth himself expressed great pleasure with the ultimate outcome of his deal, which was represented by Graham Miller of The Bloom Organization. “As we went through our process led by The Bloom Organization, we had a number of options for partners, from strategic acquirers to private equity groups. We felt Confluence Healthcare Partners was the best fit as they had the industry knowledge and operating experience to help us continue to grow our practice and, equally important, shared our vision of the priority of quality patient care and experience.”

Technology

Founded in 2023, Shillat Technologies is an IT company located in Ontario, Canada, specializing in data center operations, high-performance computing, renewable energy, and blockchain mining. The company successfully operates thousands of ASIC Miners and provides hosting services for digital mining.

Omar Brown of Young America Capital represented this $1MM equipment finance facility for Shillat Crypto Mining, which was funded by J.J. Astor & Co. At the time the project went to market, Shillat had an EBITDA margin in excess of 60%. After executing an LOI in October of 2024, the deal closed just 58 days later. 

Transportation

Founded 30 years ago, Essential Turbines is a maintenance, repair, and overhaul provider and Rolls Royce FIRST Network Authorized Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul Center, focused on providing performance, quality and safety for aerospace customers across end markets. ETI is a specialist in the Rolls-Royce M250 and RR300 engines, which power many of the world’s most well-known helicopters, and has expertise in aircraft engines.

The deal, which was represented by Dev Patel of Capital Canada Limited, had an impressive pursuit rate of 31.09%. The winning pursuit that led to the acquisition of Essential Turbines came from Independent Sponsor and Axial member Swift Anchor Holdings, led by Elias Lebovits. Notably, the deal was pursued less than two months after Lebovits joined the platform. This marked the fourth deal Dev had shared on Axial and his first closed deal.

Definitions

Buyer Match: Axial sell-side members receive a matching set of buyside members for every deal they manage via Axial. A “Buyer Match” refers to a specific buyside Axial member who matches a particular deal.

Pursuit: Axial buyside members express initial interest in a deal by clicking “Pursue,” after which they can access and sign the NDA.

Pursuit Rate: The deal “Pursuit Rate” is defined as the number of times a particular deal is pursued by unique buyside members (i.e., the buyer shows explicit interest in exploring the deal) divided by the total number of buyside firms invited to evaluate the deal.