What ACT Capital Advisors does

ACT Capital Advisors is a North American boutique M&A advisory firm founded in 1986 and headquartered in Mercer Island, Washington. The firm specializes in sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory, exit preparation, and debt placement for lower-middle-market companies typically with $1M+ in EBITDA, serving clients across 10+ industry verticals including business services, construction, consumer products, energy, food & beverage, healthcare, industrials, seafood & agribusiness, technology, and transportation & logistics. ACT's core differentiator is its proprietary ACT Auction Process, which assembles industry-expert analyst teams, exposes sellers to its qualified buyer network, facilitates competitive bidding from multiple bidders, and negotiates optimal price and terms. The firm also operates a Fast-Track Program for accelerated transactions targeting six-month closes (half the industry average) and recently launched a Seafood Sector Advisory practice (June 2024).

The firm operates 15 offices across the U.S. and Canada with 25+ M&A advisors led by Chairman & CEO Robert Hild. Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales, with Managing Directors serving as primary relationship owners who engage business owners, private equity firms, and strategic acquirers directly. Revenue is generated through success-based transaction fees structured as a percentage of deal value, with each engagement being a discrete one-off mandate rather than a recurring contract. To date, ACT has closed 250+ transactions representing over $2.5 billion in cumulative deal value, with a stated 89.7% success rate. Securities-related transactions are conducted through Taylor Grey, Inc., a wholly owned registered broker-dealer subsidiary and FINRA/SIPC member, enabling ACT to provide capital raising and private placement services. The firm's most recent strategic moves include a Miami office opening (November 2025) for cross-border North America-Latin America M&A and the buildout of sector-specific advisory practices.

The customer base is highly fragmented across one-off engagements, with named transactions spanning consumer products (Green Clean Commercial, Coro Foods), transportation and logistics (Key Trucking, Northend Truck Equipment), construction (J.E. McAmis, Buse Timber, Pacific Building Systems), industrials (Hawkins Precision, Pulse Combustion Systems, American Patio Covers Plus), healthcare (Capstone Medical, Derotic Emergency Equipment), food and beverage (Griffo Distillery), and business services (Fresh Consulting, Advanced Government Services). ACT has achieved multi-year recognition on Axial's league tables, including Top 25 Lower Middle Market Investment Banks in 2022, 2023, and 2026, with category-specific rankings of #2 in Industrials (2023) and #3 in Software (2023) sell-side dealmakers.

Name

ACT Capital Advisors

Legal name

ACT Capital Advisors, LLC

Website

https://actcapitaladvisors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

ACT Capital Advisors is a North American boutique M&A advisory firm founded in 1986, serving lower-middle-market companies with sell-side, buy-side, exit preparation, and debt placement services across 10+ industry verticals using its proprietary ACT Auction Process, supported by 25+ advisors across 15 offices.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory

NAICS

Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523), Miscellaneous Intermediation (52391)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

M&A Advisory (Buy-Side & Sell-Side) (BPAHAOAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sell-Side M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAA), Buy-Side M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAB), Capital Markets Advisory (IPO Readiness, SPAC, ECM/DCM Advisory) (BPAHAOAL)

Keywords

• Mergers acquisitions advisory
• Sell-side advisory
• Buy-side advisory
• Exit planning services
• Debt placement advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Bellevue

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices15 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Services: Success-based fees from facilitating buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions, exit planning, and debt placement advisory services for lower-middle-market companies across diverse industries.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ACT Capital Advisors is a boutique M&A advisory firm providing sell-side and buy-side mergers and acquisitions advisory, exit preparation, and debt placement services to lower-middle-market business owners and acquirers across North America. The firm employs a proprietary ACT Auction Process that exposes sellers' businesses to multiple qualified buyers in a competitive bidding environment to maximize sale price and terms. Services are delivered by Managing Directors with deep industry expertise across 14 offices in the U.S. and Canada, with securities-related transactions conducted through its wholly-owned FINRA/SIPC broker-dealer subsidiary, Taylor Grey, Inc.

Product overview

ACT Capital Advisors is a premier mergers and acquisitions advisory firm serving the lower to middle market across North America. The firm operates as a single unified professional services practice offering sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory, exit preparation, and debt placement advisory services. Their differentiated approach centers on the proprietary ACT Auction Process, which exposes sellers to multiple qualified buyers in competitive bidding situations. Additional offerings include a Fast-Track Program for accelerated transactions and specialized Seafood Sector Advisory services for the seafood and agribusiness industry vertical. The firm does not offer software products but provides human expertise-driven advisory services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sell-Side M&A Advisory Helps business owners optimize their company's market value and expose it to multiple qualified buyers through the ACT Auction Process, resulting in competitive bidding and the best transaction price and terms. Targeted at lower-middle-market company owners seeking to sell.
• Buy-Side M&A Advisory Identifies acquisition opportunities matching client objectives by leveraging deep industry contacts and an extensive seller database to find investment opportunities. Targeted at strategic acquirers and private equity firms seeking lower-middle-market targets.
• Exit Preparation The Exit Preparation team assesses organizations, resolves issues, and enhances appeal to buyers to ensure the best possible outcome when selling a business. Targeted at owners preparing their company for sale.
• Debt Placement Advisory Provides debt advisory services to help clients secure financing for transactions and business operations, supporting capital structure optimization. Targeted at businesses requiring debt financing.
• ACT Auction Process A unique proprietary auction process that assembles industry-expert analyst teams, exposes businesses to ACT's buyer network and target prospects, facilitates offers from multiple qualified bidders competing for the business, and negotiates the best price and terms for sellers.
• Fast-Track Program An expedited selling program designed to bring in qualified buyers quickly, typically closing transactions in six months—half the industry average—for businesses meeting specific criteria including $1M+ EBITDA and consistent growth.
• Seafood Sector Advisory

Quantifiable outcome

• 89.7% success rate across all transactions
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments15 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered notable transaction and strategic partnership.

• Estes Logisticsnotable transactionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025ACT facilitated the acquisition of Key Trucking Inc. by Estes Logistics, a division of Estes Express Lines, expanding their Pacific Northwest footprint.
• TriggerTechnotable transactionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2025ACT represented Hawkins Precision in its acquisition by TriggerTech, enabling Hawkins to expand product and service offerings.
• ConeTec Groupnotable transactionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ACT represented Geotech Drilling Services in its sale to ConeTec Group, combining drilling and testing capabilities for enhanced site characterization services.
• Roots Equity Groupnotable transactionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024ACT represented Pacific Building Systems in its acquisition by Roots Equity Group, providing a growth partnership for the manufacturer.
• ATS Traffic, Ltd.strategic partnershipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2023ACT represented Advanced Government Services in its strategic partnership with ATS Traffic, marking ATS Traffic's first entry into the United States market.
• OSW Equipment & Repairnotable transactionStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2019ACT assisted Northend Truck Equipment in its acquisition by OSW Equipment & Repair, combining niche work truck body manufacturing capabilities.
• SoftBank Robotics Americanotable transactionStrategic or Co-development PartnerACT Capital Advisors represented Green Clean Commercial in its sale to SoftBank Robotics America, combining cleaning services with automation technology.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Morgan & Westfield: M&A advisory and business brokerage focused on small and lower-middle-market business sales; overlaps with ACT on entry-level sell-side deals and exit preparation services.
• Sun Mergers & Acquisitions: Boutique M&A advisory firm focused on lower-middle-market transactions across the U.S.; directly comparable boutique model with sector-diversified practice.
• Calder Capital: Mid-market M&A advisory firm based in the U.S. with a similar focus on lower-middle-market sell-side transactions and industry-specialized deal teams.
• Generational Group: One of the largest U.S. lower-middle-market M&A advisory firms; serves owner-led businesses with sell-side mandates across diverse industries, overlapping directly with ACT's core proposition and target client size.
• Transworld Business Advisors: Large business brokerage and M&A franchise with a national footprint serving main-street and lower-middle-market sellers; competes at the smaller end of ACT's sweet spot.
• Woodbridge International: Boutique cross-border M&A advisory firm serving small-to-mid-cap companies; directly comparable in boutique scale, deal-size focus, and multi-sector approach.
• Benchmark International: Globally active lower-middle-market M&A advisor with industry-specialized teams; competes head-to-head with ACT for sell-side mandates in the same $1M+ EBITDA segment.

Broad incumbents

• Houlihan Lokey: Global investment bank with a strong middle-market M&A franchise; competes with ACT on larger lower-middle-market mandates where ACT's boutique scale becomes a ceiling.
• Lincoln International: Global mid-market investment bank with M&A advisory and capital-markets capabilities; competes for larger mandates in ACT's target sectors while offering similar debt-placement adjacency.

Emerging players

• Quiet Light: M&A advisory firm specializing in online business and SaaS transactions; competes with ACT in the Technology vertical using a more digital/lead-generation driven GTM model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/ActCapitalAdvisors
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/139276

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ACT Capital Advisors