What’s the firm’s origin story?
Beckway was co-founded in late 2016 by Mark Habner and Tom Anderson, with the shared vision of helping financial sponsors and their portfolio companies increase their value. In naming the firm, Mark and Tom considered a name that would embody the firm’s values and offerings. After blending the names of iconic authors John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway, they arrived at “Beckway.” Combining Steinbeck’s depiction of humble heroes and Hemingway’s portrayal of strong, stoic individuals inspired the commitment to guiding businesses with courage, compassion, and authenticity. Beckway has now grown to employ over 130 operating professionals and works with three Independent Sponsor affiliates (Hemingway Capital, Steinbeck Investment Company, and Embassy Park Investment Corp) to pair their operational experience with new deals and investment opportunities.
What is your investment thesis or value proposition?
The investment thesis of our Independent Sponsors revolves around identifying and backing resilient and disciplined family/founder-owned companies with strong leadership and a clear strategic vision. By focusing on businesses that demonstrate endurance and purposeful decision-making, our Independent Sponsors aim to generate sustainable long-term returns for their investors. Through careful analysis and a commitment to fundamental principles, they seek to partner with companies that embody the traits of strength, resilience, and strategic clarity, ultimately aiming to create lasting value in their investment portfolios.
Any notable differentiators for the firm?
Our Independent Sponsors have the horsepower of 130 Beckway operators behind them. The experienced Beckway operators deliver improvement projects, interim management capabilities, and full-time search services to their portfolio companies across all functional lines of business: from Supply Chain & Logistics, Finance & Analytics, Technology, Procurement, Human Resources, PMO Carveout solutions, all the way to full Enterprise Transformations.
What are you looking for, and where are you seeing opportunities?
We are focused on investment opportunities within the $3-10 million EBITDA range in the Industrial/Manufacturing, Business or Industrial Services, Consumer Products, Commercial Services, Food & Beverage, Healthcare, or Distribution sectors.
Finally, can you regale us with an interesting or funny M&A story?
With four weeks to close, the CFO of our target admitted that he had misrepresented the asset values of the business. We immediately went on-site to interview leadership and understand the implications of this very stress-inducing revelation. It became apparent that the fraud was not committed for self-enrichment, and, importantly, that it was limited to the balance sheet and not EBITDA. Nevertheless, our senior lender at the time withdrew from the process. Our investment team scrambled to our alternative senior lender pool and were able to convince one group to extend financing at higher rates, for which we were extremely grateful because it enabled us to close. Fast forward two years, and EBITDA has doubled, making the investment an outstanding success. And we have not (yet) re-approached the original senior lender with a “so sorry, we told you!”
