Ravinia Capital, a boutique investment bank, announced that veteran investment banker David Hirschfield is joining the firm as Managing Director, effective immediately. Hirschfield has closed more than 150 transactions during his four decades and counting of experience in sales, restructurings, and debt and equity raises, and is a recognized expert in middle-market M&A.
After graduating from Bradley University with a Bachelor of Science in History, Hirschfield began his career in the women’s apparel business. Along with many other notable accomplishments from this period of his professional life, he is credited with helping grow a well-known apparel company from startup to $300 million in revenue over a three-year period and revolutionizing the entire industry’s marketing methods in the process.
In 1984, Hirschfield then went on to found The Stonegate Group, an investment banking firm that provided a range of financial advisory services to clients in all industries and segments of the middle market for more than 25 years.
Hirschfield’s vast and varied experience as both a successful investment banker, and a leading executive in the apparel industry is as uncommon as it is valuable and has been the deciding factor in closing many difficult transactions over the course of his impressive career to-date. This tenacity has also proven valuable in traditional sales and financings insofar as David’s operational expertise has consistently provided an additional benefit to clients in a broad range of different industries.
Remarking upon his transition to Ravinia Capital, Hirschfield explains, “The team at Ravinia shares my hands-on, operational approach to business challenges and I am eager to marry up my experience with theirs.”
Sharing his own thoughts on welcoming Hirschfield to the team, Tom Goldblatt, Managing Partner at Ravinia Capital, adds, “We are excited to bring additional value to our clients through the combination of David’s extensive investment banking expertise with our own. The tremendous passion that he has demonstrated for working with business owners and senior management to resolve strategic, financial, and operational issues for companies facing financial pressures aligns perfectly with Ravinia’s culture, ethos, and reputation in the industry.”
“David’s profile further bolsters our reputation as the preeminent investment bank for handling complex special situations and advocating for business owners and other stakeholders in the middle market,” continues Goldblatt. “It’s remarkable to be able to work with someone whom I have respected for years and who I know likewise understands the value of combining one’s personal experience from running and operating companies, with lessons learned in the art of the deal, in order to help clients achieve extraordinary results by maximizing and marketing the future potential of their business.”
Lending insight into the perspectives of others in the industry on Hirschfield’s new position, Steve Fansler, Regional Head of Commercial Banking at BMO Harris Bank shares, “I am very pleased for David to add his exceptional skill set and experience to the Ravinia investment banking platform. Over the years, I have turned to David to handle many tough situations, as, in my opinion, no one does it better. What a great match David and Ravinia are.”