Woodward Park Partners in Bloomfield Hills, a newly founded middle-market investment banking firm, today announced it completed three transactions with more than $500 million of enterprise value on behalf of private equity clients in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Founded in late 2023, Woodward Park is focused on providing mergers and acquisitions advisory services on middle-market transactions across a wide range of industries including the business services, diversified industrials, infrastructure, and transportation sectors. Its team of bankers is led by Gene Bitonti and Greg McGowan, the firm’s managing directors.
“Despite a challenging economic year and a downturn in overall mergers and acquisitions activity, Woodward Park was able to achieve immediate success for three clients,” says McGowan. “Our team’s extensive mergers and acquisitions advisory expertise and commitment to providing senior-level attention were key drivers in delivering positive outcomes for our clients last year and have led to strong momentum in the year ahead.”
With nearly a century of combined experience advising on hundreds of successful transactions, the Woodward Park team has experience in representing clients in mergers and acquisitions transactions including sell-side, buy-side, and other strategic advisory assignments.
Since its founding, Woodward Park has built a roster of clients including financial sponsors, private business owners, and publicly traded companies. In the fourth quarter of 2023, Woodward Park completed three sell-side transactions on behalf of private equity clients.
They represented MiddleGround Capital in Lexington, Ky., in the sale of Peterson Spring, a leading specialty spring manufacturer, to privately held First Brands Group.
The firm also represented Rockwood Equity in Cleveland in the sale of AMACS, a manufacturer of engineered separation and mass transfer products, to privately held holding company PMC Global.
“Our highly customized approach to process strategy has been a core tenet throughout our careers at top-tier firms and will continue at Woodward Park,” says Bitonti. “As an independent investment bank, we are hyper-focused on delivering premium outcomes and valuations for our clients. From the evaluation of strategic alternatives through final documentation and closing, our commitment to meeting the needs and objectives of our clients is always center stage as we guide them through every phase of a transaction.”
The Woodward Park leadership team has worked closely together for more than a decade — beginning at Quarton Partners in Birmingham in 2010 and continuing through successor firms, most recently at TD Cowen in Birmingham. In 2024, the Woodward Park team has more than $900 million in enterprise value on behalf of clients currently under engagement.
