Victory Partners

What Victory Partners does

Victory Partners, LLC is a privately held, full-service middle-market investment bank founded in 2008 and currently headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina (relocated from Dallas, Texas in mid-2022), with additional offices in Miramar Beach, FL and Asheville, NC. The firm provides M&A advisory, capital raising, debt restructuring, and specialized advisory services — primarily Sell-Side Services (capital raising, pitch books, financial modeling, offering memorandums, due diligence) and Buy-Side Services (acquisition strategies, quality of earnings, debt and equity financing) — to companies with revenues between $10 million and $250 million, with typical transaction sizes of $10 million to $100 million. It also operates a dedicated Real Estate Restructuring & Advisory Practice and hosts an annual Interactive M&A Symposium as a recurring client/prospect event.

The firm monetizes through customary investment banking fee structures — retainers and success-based transaction fees — with engagements priced on a custom basis rather than standardized rates. Its go-to-motion is relationship-driven enterprise advisory, supported by quarterly industry research reports (e.g., Pipe/Valves/Fittings, Shipbuilding & Marina, Cosmetics Manufacturing, Boat Manufacturing), an interactive symposium, board-level nonprofit and academic relationships, and a global investor network built over 20+ years. Principals led by R. Todd Lazenby and Managing Director Terry Hess have completed 120+ transactions representing over $7 billion in cumulative deal value across 250+ clients, with named transactions including SCS Frigette, Mid-America Fittings, Midland Metal Manufacturing, E Mortgage Logic, and Imperial Technologies.

Operationally, Victory Partners is a small, founder-led boutique of 10-15 professionals that explicitly positions itself as providing "Wall Street and Silicon Valley sophistication to Main Street" — i.e., bulge-bracket caliber execution (e.g., Lazenby's Stanford MBA and Wells Fargo background; Hess's restructuring track record at GlenFed Corp.) accessible to lower-middle-market companies. The firm's co-founder Lazenby also leads a related private equity vehicle, Royal Ascot Partners, LLC, creating an integrated advisory-plus-principal-investing platform. The firm has no disclosed AI/ML product capability, no public filings, and no institutional outside capital.

Name

Victory Partners

Legal name

Victory Partners, LLC

Website

https://victorypartnersllc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Victory Partners is a privately held middle-market investment bank (Charlotte, NC; founded 2008) providing M&A advisory, capital raising, debt restructuring, and real estate workout services to companies with $10M-$250M in revenue, with 120+ transactions and $7B+ in cumulative deal value.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Banking

NAICS

Investment Banking and Securities Intermediation (523150), Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Security Brokers, Dealers & Flotation Companies (6211), Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Capital Raising Advisory (Equity & Equity-Linked) (FSAEAGAC)

Keywords

• Investment banking
• M&A advisory
• Middle-market advisory
• Capital raising
• Restructuring advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Dallas

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Fees: Advisory fees from buy-side and sell-side M&A transactions, including sell-side services (capital raising, pitch books, financial modeling, offering memorandums, due diligence) and buy-side services (acquisition strategies, debt and equity financing).
2. Restructuring and Workout Services: Fees from restructuring, workout, and bankruptcy advisory services for distressed companies, including real estate restructuring and advisory practice.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Victory Partners is a full-service middle-market investment bank providing M&A advisory (buy-side and sell-side), capital raising, debt restructuring/workout, and specialized real estate advisory services to companies with $10-$250 million in revenue.

Product overview

Victory Partners is a full-service investment bank offering M&A advisory, debt restructuring, capital raising, and specialized advisory services to middle-market companies. The firm operates as a unified service offering organized around Sell-Side Services (capital raising, pitch books, financial modeling, offering memoranda, due diligence, and restructuring), Buy-Side Services (acquisition strategies, quality of earnings, financing), and a specialized Real Estate Restructuring & Advisory Practice. The firm also hosts an annual Interactive M&A Symposium as an educational event for clients and prospects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sell-Side Services Advisory services for companies seeking to sell or raise capital, including capital raising, pitch books, financial modeling and valuation, offering memorandum preparation, financial/operational due diligence, and restructuring/workout/bankruptcy services.
• Buy-Side Services Advisory services for companies pursuing acquisitions, including financial due diligence, acquisition strategies, quality of earnings analysis, and debt and equity financing advisory.
• Real Estate Restructuring & Advisory Practice Specialized advisory services for real estate companies and secured lenders, including business plan preparation, refinancing analysis, liquidity management, contingency planning, expert testimony, §363 asset sales, and debt/REO acquisitions and dispositions.
• Interactive M&A Symposium Annual educational event for business owners, executives, investors, and family offices featuring interactive discussions with legal, accounting, investment banking, private equity, valuation, and wealth management professionals using proprietary case studies.

Quantifiable outcome

• 120+ transactions representing over $3B in enterprise value
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers9 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Royal Ascot Partners, LLCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoyal Ascot Partners is a private equity firm co-founded by R. Todd Lazenby, Victory Partners' founding partner. The firms collaborate on transactions and facilitate the annual M&A Symposium, with Royal Ascot hosting the discussion panel alongside Victory Partners.
• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE)minorOthersTodd Lazenby serves on the board of directors of NFTE, supporting entrepreneurship education for young people.
• March of DimesminorOthersTodd Lazenby previously served on the board of directors for the March of Dimes charity organization.
• SMU Cox School of BusinessminorOthersTodd Lazenby serves as adjunct professor and guest lecturer at SMU Cox School of Business, as well as TCU Neeley School of Business, Baylor Hankammer School of Business, Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business, and Loyola University Sellinger School of Business.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Lincoln International: Global middle-market investment bank specializing in M&A advisory, capital raising, and restructuring. Directly comparable to Victory Partners in client segment (middle market), service mix (sell-side, buy-side, restructuring), and relationship-driven go-to-market, but operates at significantly greater scale across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
• Houlihan Lokey: Public, global investment bank with strong franchises in M&A, capital markets, and financial restructuring — particularly in the middle market. Highly comparable service offering and client profile, with a much larger analyst bench and balance sheet, and a stronger restructuring practice that overlaps with Victory Partners' workout/bankruptcy specialization.
• Harris Williams: Middle-market M&A advisory firm (subsidiary of PNC Financial Services) organized around sector-focused industry groups. Directly comparable as a relationship-driven middle-market advisor serving private equity and corporate clients across similar transaction sizes, though with materially more sector coverage and parent-bank capital backing.
• Piper Sandler Companies: Public middle-market investment bank providing M&A advisory, capital raising, and equity research, with strong coverage of middle-market and growth-stage companies. Comparable in client segment and service mix, with much broader sector reach and capital markets capabilities than Victory Partners.
• Oppenheimer & Co. Private investment bank and broker-dealer with active middle-market M&A advisory and capital raising practice. Directly comparable in target client profile (middle-market companies, entrepreneurs, family offices) and service mix, though larger and with stronger public-finance and institutional capabilities.

Broad incumbents

• Stifel Financial Corp. Large diversified broker-dealer and investment bank with a sizable middle-market M&A, capital raising, and restructuring practice. Comparable in service offering and middle-market client focus, but operates at significantly greater scale across institutional brokerage, wealth management, and public finance.
• Robert W. Baird & Co. Private, employee-owned diversified financial services firm with a strong middle-market M&A advisory franchise alongside investment banking, equity research, and wealth management. Comparable client profile and middle-market orientation, but with materially larger scale and broader product set.
• Jefferies Financial Group: Full-service global investment banking and capital markets firm with a sizable middle-market M&A franchise alongside large-cap advisory and leveraged finance. Overlaps with Victory Partners on middle-market sell-side mandates but operates at substantially greater scale with capital markets and lending capabilities well beyond the boutique's reach.

Regional players

• Cascade Partners: Middle-market M&A advisory firm headquartered in the Midwest serving clients across consumer, industrial, and business services sectors. Comparable as a boutique middle-market advisor with similar deal-size profile, but operates primarily in the Midwest rather than Victory Partners' Southeast/Mid-Atlantic core.

Emerging players

• Benchmark International: Globally active M&A advisor focused on the lower-middle-market transaction segment (typically $1M-$100M in value), making it directly comparable to Victory Partners' smaller-deal niche. Differs in being a high-volume, technology-enabled consolidator of small-business mandates rather than a relationship-led boutique.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Victorypartnersllc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Victory Partners