What Good Hope Advisors does

Good Hope Advisors is a privately held, sell-side M&A advisory firm headquartered in Tenafly, New Jersey, that exclusively represents founders of lower-middle market contracting businesses in the sale of their companies. The firm was founded by three partners — Eric Seifert (Founder & Managing Partner), Josh Gladtke (Managing Director & Partner), and Gregg Lerman (COO & Partner) — and operates a "no handoffs" model in which the same principals manage every engagement from initial conversation through closing. The firm's vertical specialization covers exterior trades including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, and paving, with deal targets typically in the $1M–$5M+ EBITDA band. Good Hope runs its deals through a proprietary GHA Competitive Process™ designed to generate competing bids from a curated network of "100s" of pre-qualified buyers — PE firms, strategics, and family offices.

The firm's service stack spans six components: full sell-side advisory from valuation through close; defensible business valuations; buyer matching against the in-network buyer pool; CIM and marketing materials; a confidential process management layer (employees, customers, and competitors are not informed until the seller decides); and LOI structuring, due diligence management, and closing support. Pricing is success-fee only — no upfront costs, no retainer, and no fee until the deal closes — which structurally aligns the firm's incentives with seller outcomes. Distribution is direct-to-founder via the three partners, supported by content marketing, industry conference presence (Nexstar, ACCA, ComfortTech), and a deep Axial platform relationship. The firm has accumulated an aggregate $500M+ in transaction value and is associated with platform outcomes including Apex Service Partners (now valued at $10B) and TurnPoint Services (valued at $2B+).

Recognition has compounded over five years: Axial Top 20 LMM Investment Banks in 2021, #18 Q1 2025 and #14 full-year 2025 in Top 25 LMM Investment Banks, and Axial Advisor 100 plus #7 sell-side advisor in LMM Industrials in 2026. Notable engagements include repeat advisory on Sila Services acquisitions across three successive PE sponsors (Dubin Clark, Morgan Stanley Capital Partners, Goldman Sachs Alternatives), the Dauenhauer Plumbing recapitalization that created TurnPoint Services, and the Academy Air → Apex transaction. The firm carries no external institutional funding, no parent company, and no disclosed subsidiaries, operating entirely on transaction fees.

Name

Good Hope Advisors

Legal name

Good Hope Advisors

Website

https://www.goodhopeadvisors.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Good Hope Advisors is a privately held sell-side M&A advisory firm that exclusively represents founders of lower-middle market exterior trades contracting businesses (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, paving), running structured competitive sale processes on a success-fee-only basis.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

M&A Advisory Services

NAICS

Portfolio Management and Investment Advice (523940)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282)

akta.pro primary industry

Sell-Side M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industry-Specialist / Sector-Focused M&A Advisory (FSAEAGAJ), M&A Advisory (Buy-Side & Sell-Side) (BPAHAOAA)

Keywords

• Sell-side M&A advisory
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Contracting business sales
• Lower-middle market advisory
• M&A advisory services

Headquarters

HQ city

Tenafly

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, Others

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Success Fees: The firm operates on a success-fee-only model with no upfront costs, no retainer, and no deal until the transaction closes. This aligns the firm's incentives entirely with the seller's outcome.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Good Hope Advisors is a sell-side M&A advisory firm that exclusively represents founders of legacy lower-middle-market contracting businesses (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, paving) in the sale of their companies. It runs a proprietary GHA Competitive Process™ that takes founders through the full deal lifecycle — valuation, buyer matching with 100s of pre-qualified PE firms, strategics, and family offices, CIM preparation, confidential process management, LOI structuring, due diligence, negotiation, and closing. The firm is compensated solely on a success-fee basis with no upfront costs or retainers.

Product overview

Good Hope Advisors is a sell-side M&A advisory firm that operates as a single integrated service rather than a platform with modular components. The firm provides comprehensive advisory services including business valuations, buyer matching, CIM preparation, and negotiation support through its proprietary GHA Competitive Process™ methodology. The firm specializes exclusively in exterior trades industries including HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, and paving, working with lower-middle market founders on a success-fee-only basis with no upfront costs or retainers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sell-Side M&A Advisory Full-service sell-side M&A advisory representing founders of legacy contracting businesses (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, paving) through the complete sale process from valuation to closing. Delivered exclusively on a success-fee basis.
• GHA Competitive Process™

Quantifiable outcome

• 6–25% higher sale price on average for businesses sold with advisor representation vs. those sold directly by owners (per Agrawal et al. research)
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers13 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• The Seer GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Western U.S. home services platform that acquired Coffman & Co. in 2020. GHA connected Pat Quinlan with Seer and managed the process to closing. Seer now covers most states west of the Rockies and the entire West Coast.
• AxialcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary deal network for lower middle market M&A. Good Hope Advisors ranks among Top 25 LMM Investment Banks and Top 50 Industrials on Axial's platform. Axial is used by PE firms, family offices, and strategics to source and close LMM transactions.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Kaman & Company: Smaller, mechanically focused advisory practice with HVAC/plumbing sector exposure; regional and vertical-overlap comparable, though smaller in scale than Good Hope Advisors.

Direct peers

• Generational Group: Large lower-middle-market M&A advisory firm representing privately held business owners across multiple verticals; competes for similar founder-owned, $1M-$50M EBITDA engagements with a similar success-fee-driven model.
• Cornerstone Business Services: Lower-middle-market M&A advisory firm serving founder-owned businesses in similar revenue/EBITDA ranges; competes directly in the same auction-driven, sell-side process category.
• Calder Capital: Boutique M&A advisory firm specializing in lower-middle-market transactions across the U.S.; similar size, success-fee model, and founder-led client profile to Good Hope Advisors.
• SF&P Advisors: Lower-middle-market M&A advisory firm where Good Hope Advisors founder Eric Seifert previously served as Executive Director; directly comparable in target market (LMM founders) and sell-side process, making it the closest pedigree peer.
• Benchmark International: Global lower-middle-market M&A advisory firm serving private business owners across sectors; directly comparable transaction size band, buyer network approach, and sell-side orientation to GHA's engagements.
• M&A Partners: Middle-market M&A advisory firm with a comparable boutique, founder-led approach serving private business sellers; similar deal-size focus and PE buyer network orientation.
• Murphy Business & Financial Corporation: Well-established lower-middle-market M&A and business brokerage franchise; competes for similar founder-owned engagements, particularly with HVAC, plumbing, and service-business sellers in GHA's footprint.
• Transworld Business Advisors: Large lower-middle-market business brokerage and M&A franchise; overlaps with Good Hope Advisors in representing owners of $1M+ EBITDA businesses across multiple verticals on a success-fee basis.

Broad incumbents

• Sunbelt Business Brokers: Largest lower-middle-market business brokerage network in North America; covers the same founder-exit segment as GHA across many verticals, though more diversified beyond trades and contracting.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/gregglermangha
• Xx.com/goodhopeadvisor

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Good Hope Advisors