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 advisory and valuation services. Since ACP’s initial investment in July 2020, the Firm has achieved transformational growth under the leadership of WM co-founders Landen Williams and Jon Marston.
By all accounts this was an extremely successful partnership. Today, WM is the largest and most diversified provider of complex financial advisory services to its growing client base throughout the United States. Over the past two years, the WM team has grown to more than 225 of the industry’s leading professionals. Growth was driven by expanding existing customer relationships, adding new customers through best-in-class customer service and completing six additional acquisitions. These acquisitions helped expand 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 in new geographic markets by expanding our capabilities and service offerings to better serve the base our loyal and expanding clientele.” Many of these 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’s leadership, we significantly exceeded our investment objectives,” said ACP Managing Partner Chris Jones. “The WM team has been an outstanding partner to ACP and our investors, and we are extremely grateful for their efforts and achievements over the past two years. The firm has achieved tremendous growth while maintaining its unwavering commitment to brand, customers and people. All of us at ACP are excited to see the continued growth and success of WM.”
“We chose to partner with ACP given the cultural fit of our teams and their track record of helping companies achieve transformational growth,” said Jon Marston. “Their team supported our growth where we needed help and did so in a collaborative manner with a shared vision for 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 the evolution of our firm, partnering with Kelso is another exciting chapter in our growth story that will accelerate our long-term aspirations. We remain absolutely committed to our mission and are already hard at work with the team at Kelso planning the course for the coming 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 Williams Marston 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 equity, private. Supported and pre-IPO companies managing rapid growth and transformation, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, 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 of committed capital with investment teams in Cleveland and Dallas. ACP brings experience and resources to help lower middle market companies accelerate their growth, benefiting the firm’s management, employees and investors. ACP makes controlling investments in differentiated companies within the business services, technology, specialty manufacturing and distribution sectors. For more information, visit aligncp.com.