What Grace Matthews does

Grace Matthews, Inc. is a privately held, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based M&A advisory firm founded in 1999 that focuses exclusively on the chemicals and materials science value chain, including petrochemicals, intermediates, formulated chemicals, specialty materials, and life sciences. The firm delivers sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, corporate carve-outs, fairness opinions, valuations, and strategic alternatives analysis, with securities offered through its indirectly owned subsidiary GM Securities, LLC, a FINRA- and SIPC-member broker-dealer. Each engagement is led by a Managing Director and supported by analytical, financial, and negotiation professionals, and the firm deliberately limits the number of active mandates to maintain senior attention.

The firm is staffed by a small, senior team of approximately 14 professionals (within an 11-50 employee band), most with advanced degrees in finance or business and many with science, engineering, or operations backgrounds relevant to chemicals transactions. Since the early 1990s, Grace Matthews professionals have completed more than 150 successful M&A transactions, working with both public and private companies globally, with active mandates spanning North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Its proprietary analytical asset is the Grace Matthews Chemicals & Materials Index, which tracks Enterprise Value / EBITDA ratios for approximately 100 publicly traded chemicals and materials companies across sub-sectors and geographies.

The business model is professional services fee-based, with revenue generated through transaction advisory fees on M&A engagements priced by complexity, size, and scope. The firm maintains four client segments: privately held businesses pursuing exits, large corporations executing divestitures and carve-outs (historically about one-third of sell-side engagements), private equity groups seeking portfolio exits, and management teams pursuing management buyouts. Thought leadership and pipeline generation are supported through the quarterly Grace Matthews Insights newsletter, white papers, conference participation, and podcast appearances. Ownership is retained by the founders and management team, with no disclosed private equity or institutional investor ownership, recapitalizations, or secondary offerings.

Name

Grace Matthews

Legal name

Grace Matthews, Inc.

Website

https://gracematthews.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Grace Matthews is a privately held, Milwaukee-based M&A advisory firm founded in 1999 that specializes exclusively in sell-side, buy-side, and corporate carve-out transactions across the global chemicals, specialty materials, and life sciences value chain, serving private companies, large corporations, private equity groups, and management teams.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

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: Provides sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, corporate carve-outs, fairness opinions, valuations, and strategic alternatives. Revenue generated through advisory fees for transaction engagements.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Grace Matthews is an independent M&A advisory firm providing transaction advisory services exclusively to the chemical and materials science value chain. Core offerings include sell-side advisory, buy-side advisory, corporate carve-outs, fairness opinions, valuations, and strategic alternatives. A Managing Director leads every engagement, supported by professionals handling analytical, financial, and negotiation work. Securities offerings are provided through its subsidiary GM Securities, LLC.

Product overview

Grace Matthews operates as a single unified advisory service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core offering is M&A Advisory Services, which encompasses three primary practice areas: Sell-Side Advisory, Buy-Side Advisory, and Corporate Carve-Outs. These services are supported by complementary capabilities in fairness opinions, valuations, and strategic alternatives analysis. The firm also publishes the Grace Matthews Insights Newsletter as a thought leadership resource. All services are delivered by a team of experienced M&A professionals with deep expertise in chemicals and materials science, serving private companies, large corporations, private equity groups, and management teams across the global chemical and materials value chain.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Grace Matthews Insights: Quarterly newsletter published by Grace Matthews covering M&A trends in the chemical and material science value chain.
• Grace Matthews Chemicals & Materials Index
• GM Securities, LLC

Products and services

• M&A Advisory Services Comprehensive merger and acquisition advisory services including sell-side and buy-side advisory, corporate carve-outs, fairness opinions, valuations, and strategic alternatives analysis for companies across the chemical and materials science value chain.
• Sell-Side Advisory Sell-side advisory services managing business sale processes from strategy development through closing, including marketing materials, buyer identification, negotiations, due diligence support, and transaction structuring.
• Buy-Side Advisory Buy-side advisory services for companies seeking growth through acquisitions, including broad-based acquisition searches, specific target projects, and support in competitive sale processes.
• Corporate Carve-Outs Corporate carve-out services for the sale of subsidiaries, divisions, or assets of large companies, addressing complexities around cost allocation, transition services agreements, and personnel matters.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 150 M&A transactions completed successfully since early 1990s
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers20 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• GM Securities, LLCcoreOthersGM Securities, LLC is indirectly owned by Grace Matthews, Inc. and is a registered broker dealer and member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC). Securities are offered through this subsidiary.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Lincoln International: Global mid-market M&A advisory firm with a dedicated chemicals practice. Comparable to Grace Matthews as a sector-focused investment bank serving middle-market chemicals/materials transactions across sell-side, buy-side, and carve-out mandates.
• Harris Williams: Mid-market M&A advisor with a strong specialty chemicals and life sciences group. Highly comparable to Grace Matthews given its sector-focused coverage and similar middle-market chemicals deal flow.
• Livingstone Partners: Global mid-market M&A advisory firm with active chemicals and specialty materials coverage. Comparable to Grace Matthews in middle-market chemicals advisory mandate mix, cross-border scope, and PE-driven deal pipeline.
• Cross Keys Capital: M&A advisory firm specialized in the chemical value chain. Direct peer to Grace Matthews given its niche focus on chemicals M&A and similar client mix of private owners, corporates, and PE-backed assets.
• Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company (BGL): Middle-market investment bank with a dedicated chemicals and specialty materials practice. Comparable to Grace Matthews in delivering sector-specialized advisory to privately held, corporate, and PE-backed chemicals businesses.
• Berkery Noyes: Middle-market M&A advisor with chemicals and specialty industrials coverage. Comparable to Grace Matthews in serving private chemicals owners, corporate carve-outs, and PE exits at similar transaction sizes.

Broad incumbents

• Stout: Larger diversified advisory and valuation firm with chemicals industry exposure. Comparable as a chemicals-experienced M&A and valuation advisory competing for some of the same sell-side and fairness opinion mandates.
• Kroll (formerly Duff & Phelps): Global financial advisory firm offering M&A, valuation, and fairness opinion services across chemicals and industrial sectors. Overlaps with Grace Matthews on chemicals valuations and corporate finance advisory mandates.
• Charles River Associates (CRA): Global consulting firm with a chemicals materials practice and transaction advisory capabilities. Overlaps with Grace Matthews on strategic alternatives, transactions, and chemicals sector advisory.

Regional players

• Pace Equity Group: Mid-market M&A advisor with chemicals and life sciences focus. Comparable as another sector-specialist boutique competing for private and PE-backed chemicals exit mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/_GraceMatthews_
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/grace-matthews
• Instagraminstagram.com/gracematthews

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

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 Grace Matthews