SC&H Capital announced it is expanding its capabilities to service distressed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by adding seven members of the boutique investment banking firm, Equity Partners, to its investment banking advisory team.

Equity Partners is recognized nationally for its work in distressed M&A and has led and managed more than 600 transactions nationally since its founding in 1988. The Easton, Maryland-based firm will cease operations as members of its team take on key roles at SC&H Capital.

“The seven new team members from Equity Partners are experts at managing complex, financially distressed deals,” says Christopher Helmrath, founder and managing director of SC&H Capital. “Their combined decades of experience working specifically with these types of transactions brings a new depth of focus to SC&H Capital’s services in this market sector.”

Ken Mann, who joined Equity Partners in 1995 and became senior managing director in 2004, says the partnership with SC&H Capital broadens the firm’s capabilities to service new geographic centers and industries, and bolsters its growth capabilities. Mann will join SC&H Capital as a managing director. Additional new SC&H Capital members transitioning from Equity Partners include: Frank Monaco, senior relationship executive; Fred Cross, principal; Hank Waida, principal; Matt LoCascio, principal; Keith Keeling, vice president; and Debbie Beall, transaction marketing coordinator.

‘Distressed M&A’ is a term that refers to merger and acquisition activities specifically involving companies that are financially troubled or dealing with complexities such as litigation. Mann says he and his team help companies in turmoil examine transactional solutions to survive and thrive. Often, distressed companies are pushed towards liquidation explains Mann, but “our goal is to save a company’s legacy and reputation, maximize its value and preserve jobs.”

As a niche firm that specialized in businesses experiencing complicated financial situations, “you’d think the booming economy would have slowed business,” says Mann. But that has not been the case: Equity Partners saw record-breaking activity in recent years. Mann says their firm wanted to expand the ways they could serve their referral sources by getting into the healthy M&A market and into new sectors, such as healthcare, and knew they’d be more likely to achieve their goals by partnering with a company that offered a broad range of financial services.

Their search for opportunity led them to SC&H Capital. “SC&H Capital is a well-respected group, and a great fit,” not only with respect to the complementary services it offers, but “culturally as well,” adds Mann. “Company culture was a really important factor for us.”

According to Helmrath, Equity Partners brings a stellar competency to SC&H Capital with a “great team with unparalleled experience in the distressed market. We’re always looking to provide our clients and referral sources with options that will meet their needs, and we’ve been exploring moving into this market sector for a couple years now.”

Helmrath has seen that even in a flourishing economy, businesses can find themselves in challenging situations. “Every business has to deal with the micro-economics of their own company and industry, and any management team can find themselves in need of expertise to mitigate these challenges,” he says.

Mann says: “We wanted to work with high-integrity people with expertise in a range of transactions, as well as providing a larger transaction capacity, and that’s what we’ve found by joining the team at SC&H Capital.” Mann believes this partnership presents a growth opportunity for both teams, bolstering the capacity of all involved to become “a powerhouse financial-service provider.”