Carl Marks Advisors, a leading investment bank providing financial and operational advisory services to middle market companies, today announced further expansion of its mergers & acquisitions group with the appointment of Christopher Parisi as Managing Director and Michael Gordon as Vice President.

Christopher Parisi brings more than 20 years of investment banking experience to Carl Marks Advisors. He was most recently with FPG Advisory where he led M&A advisory engagements for middle market companies. Parisi has focused in part on “pre-institutional” companies—run by entrepreneurs or private partnerships without financial sponsor backing. At Carl Marks Advisors, Parisi will continue his seasoned approach to M&A with a concentration on family-owned or closely held companies. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Michael Gordon re-joins Carl Marks Advisors after starting his career at the firm as an analyst supporting mergers and acquisitions, and lender and credit advisory work. He left to pursue an MBA in Finance and Accounting at NYU Stern School of Business, where he co-chaired the Stern Private Equity Conference, an annual event bringing dozens of top investment and banking firms to campus. Gordon was most recently a Manager in the Deal Advisory Group at KPMG.

“Selling a business is a challenging, usually very personal decision for an owner or family. The unique understanding and perspective we bring as a family-owned company ourselves is highly appealing to founders and second- or third-generation business owners, and we’ve seen steadily increasing demand for our M&A advisory services,” said Evan Tomaskovic, Managing Partner. “Bringing Christopher on board and welcoming Michael back into the fold will allow Carl Marks Advisors to guide more companies and help more founders and families successfully navigate this transition. They have complementary strengths and skills, and we are looking forward to many years of growth with them on the team.”

Parisi and Gordon will be based in the New York offices of Carl Marks Advisors, and work with clients nationwide.