CLEVELAND & DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Align Capital Partners (“ACP”) is pleased to announce the sale of its interest in WilliamsMarston LLC ("WilliamsMarston," the "Firm" or “WM”) to Kelso & Company (“Kelso”). Headquartered in Boston, MA, WilliamsMarston is a differentiated, national leader in providing complex accounting, tax and valuation advisory services. Since ACP’s initial investment in July 2020, the Firm has achieved transformational growth under the leadership of WM’s Co-Founders, Landen Williams and Jon Marston.
By all accounts this was an extremely successful partnership. Today, WM is a larger and more diversified provider of complex financial advisory services for its growing base of clients across the United States. During the last two years, WM’s team increased to more than 225 of the industry’s leading professionals. Growth was driven by expanding existing client relationships, adding new clients through best-in-class client service and completing six add-on acquisitions. These acquisitions helped broaden the Firm’s service offering and helped WM add top talent consistent with its highly respected brand and collaborative team-based culture.
At the time of ACP’s investment, Jon Marston said, “We are excited to begin this partnership and accelerate our growth into new geographic markets while broadening our capabilities and service offerings to better serve our loyal and expanding client base.” Many of those objectives were realized in the past two years, as WM entered five new geographic markets and added three new service lines. WilliamsMarston serves more than 1,000 clients including large multinational public entities, private equity-backed platforms and pre-IPO growth companies.
“Together with WM leadership, we significantly exceeded our investment objectives,” said ACP Managing Partner Chris Jones. “The WM team has been an outstanding partner for ACP and our investors, and we are incredibly appreciative of their efforts and accomplishments over the past two years. The Firm has achieved remarkable growth while maintaining its steadfast commitment to its brand, clients and people. All of us at ACP are excited to watch WM’s continued growth and success.”
“We chose to partner with ACP given our teams’ cultural fit and their track record of helping companies achieve transformational growth,” said Jon Marston. “Their team supported our growth where we needed assistance and did so in a collaborative manner with a shared vision of the future.”
“Jon and I are excited to continue to lead our team of talented experts who are laser focused on providing the highest quality service to their clients,” said Landen Williams. “While it is still early in our Firm’s evolution, partnering with Kelso is an exciting next chapter in our growth story that will accelerate our long-term aspirations. We remain absolutely committed to our mission and we are already hard at work with the team at Kelso plotting the course for the next few years and the exciting things on the horizon!”
Partner Matt Beesley, Operating Partner Dave Perotti and Senior Associate Aaron Lewis were also key members of ACP’s investment team. William Blair, Houlihan Lokey and BellMark Partners acted as financial advisors to WM, and Kirkland & Ellis LLP served as legal counsel to the Firm.
About WilliamsMarston LLC
WilliamsMarston is a national accounting, tax and valuation advisory firm founded in 2014. With over 225 professionals and offices in Boston, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Tucson, Southern California and the Bay Area, the Firm advises public, private equity-backed and pre-IPO companies managing rapid growth and transformation including mergers, acquisitions, carveouts, spin-offs, initial public offerings, complex technical accounting, corporate tax and restructuring. With a growing team of industry leading experts, WilliamsMarston is the CFO's most trusted advisor through their most complex transactions and mission critical initiatives. For more information, visit williamsmarston.com.
About Align Capital Partners
Align Capital Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm that partners with business owners and management teams to create shared success. ACP manages $775 million in committed capital with investment teams in Cleveland and Dallas. ACP brings experience and resources to help lower-middle market companies accelerate their growth, to the benefit of management, employees and the firm’s investors. ACP makes control investments in differentiated companies within the business services, technology, specialty manufacturing and distribution sectors. For more information, visit aligncp.com.
