Hart Marx Advisors

What Hart Marx Advisors does

Hart Marx Advisors (HMA) is a privately held boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm exclusively serving the automotive aftermarket and heavy-duty trucking industries. The firm represents business owners on the sell side (succession planning, divestitures, succession and exit advisory), strategic and financial buyers on the buy side (target identification, acquisition strategy, due diligence support), and equity investors and lenders active in transportation. HMA focuses on lower-to-middle market transactions typically with adjusted EBITDA in a $2 million to $30 million+ range, and its engagements follow a retainer plus percentage-based success fee structure payable upon closing. The firm does not develop or license any proprietary software, platform, or technology product, and has no public API or data product; its value is delivered entirely through senior-led advisory work, supplemented by an e-newsletter ('The Advantage'), thought-leadership content, and trade-show presence at events such as SEMA, AAPEX, HDAD/HDAW, DealMAX, and MEMA Vision.

HMA is led by five named partners and supported by a six-person Advisory Board of senior aftermarket and OE executives. Managing Partner Chris Bovis brings over 20 years of performance and aftermarket experience; Senior Partner Tom Marx, MAAP, anchors the firm with 30+ years of industry relationships and 15+ years of M&A advisory; Executive Vice President of Finance Devin Hart adds more than 20 years of aftermarket finance and operating experience (formerly President and CEO of CADNA Rubber Company); Partner Tim Wheeler (joined 2021) brings 32 years of OE and performance aftermarket leadership (Delphi, Federal-Mogul, ROUSH Performance, WELD Racing); and Vice President of Research John Nodson provides acquisition integration and joint venture experience. The Advisory Board includes David Barbeau (formerly leading global aftermarket businesses at two Tier 1 manufacturers), Jon Dehne, Roger Homer (London-based, strategic markets and international), Howard Kesten (APA Search executive search), Rick Rollins, and Denise Rondini.

The firm is organized as Hart Marx Advisors, LLC, domiciled in California and headquartered at 4040 Civic Center Drive, Suite 200, San Rafael, CA, with additional offices across the US (Eagle ID, Troy/Bloomfield Hills MI, Dallas TX, Naples and Jacksonville FL) and international offices in London, Belfast, and Mexico City. Originally founded as Marx Group Advisors by Tom Marx and Paul Cooperstein, the firm rebranded to Hart Marx Advisors around 2017. Customer concentration is dispersed across discrete, project-based engagements with named counterparties spanning Heidts Automotive, Miller Performance Parts/BMR Suspension, Protoco Enterprises, Sinclair & Rush, Hidden Harbor Capital Partners, Burnout Brands, Fleet Services, CTTP, Sope Creek Capital, Tiger Lily Holdings, DuraBrake, High Bar Brands, Viking Sales, TNT Parts, and D&J Supply.

Name

Hart Marx Advisors

Legal name

Hart Marx Advisors, LLC

Website

https://hartmarxadvisors.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Hart Marx Advisors is a privately held boutique M&A advisory firm exclusively serving the automotive aftermarket and heavy-duty trucking industries, representing business sellers, strategic acquirers, and private equity firms in lower-to-middle market transactions with adjusted EBITDA typically between $2M and $30M+.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Administrative Management and General Management Consulting Services (541611)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Industry-Specialist / Sector-Focused M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

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

Keywords

• Mergers and acquisitions advisory
• Automotive M&A advisory
• Heavy-duty trucking advisory
• Succession planning services
• Business transition consulting

Headquarters

HQ city

San Rafael

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory and Transaction Fees: Hart Marx Advisors earns fees for facilitating mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and strategic planning engagements for clients in the automotive and heavy-duty trucking industries. The firm provides a full range of services including M&A strategy, planning, investigation, buyer/seller identification, negotiations, due diligence support, and integration. The firm also developed a Small Business Consulting service focused on helping business owners understand how decisions today will shape their transition options in the future.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Hart Marx Advisors is a boutique M&A advisory firm that assists with buying and selling businesses in the automotive and heavy-duty industries. The firm provides M&A strategy, planning, buyer/seller identification, negotiations, due diligence support, and integration services for business owners, private equity firms, and strategic buyers. It also offers small-business consulting focused on helping owners understand how today's decisions shape future transition and exit options.

Product overview

Hart Marx Advisors is a boutique consulting firm offering mergers and acquisitions advisory services exclusively within the automotive and heavy-duty trucking industries. The firm provides a comprehensive suite of M&A services including strategy development, business planning, buyer/seller identification, negotiations, due diligence support, and post-transaction integration. The firm also offers business transition planning and consulting services for small to medium businesses. Additionally, the company publishes 'The Advantage,' an e-newsletter providing M&A insights and automotive aftermarket market intelligence. Hart Marx Advisors specializes in lower to middle market business transactions and does not offer software products or technology platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sell-Side M&A Advisory for Sellers

Quantifiable outcome

• Multiple transactions successfully closed across the automotive and heavy-duty aftermarket, with documented deal timelines as short as 120 days from engagement to offer acceptance.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers9 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

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Miller Performance Parts / BMR SuspensioncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 3 March 2026HMA facilitated the acquisition of Heidts Automotive by Miller Performance Parts, the parent company of BMR Suspension. Both BMR and Heidts will continue to operate independently while collaborating on new product lines to reinforce their position as leaders in aftermarket suspension systems for American muscle and late-model vehicles.
• Sinclair & Rush, Inc.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 August 2025HMA facilitated the acquisition of Protoco Enterprises, LLC by Sinclair & Rush, Inc. Protoco manufactures dip and injection molded storage and organizational products and dip molding services. Sinclair & Rush is a global leader in plastic and rubber product manufacturing solutions with operations on four continents serving over 20,000 customers.
• Commercial Truck and Trailer Parts (CTTP)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 December 2024HMA facilitated a partnership between Fleet Services Inc. and Commercial Truck and Trailer Parts (CTTP), a national distributor of aftermarket parts for the U.S. heavy-duty truck industries. The partnership expanded CTTP's physical footprint in the Southern California region, with Fleet Services joining the CTTP Family of Companies.
• Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLPminorOthers · 4 June 2024Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP served as legal advisor to Hidden Harbor Capital Partners in the D&J Precision Machine acquisition. This represents an advisory team member supporting a transaction facilitated by HMA.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Hart Marx Advisors