The Strobel Group

What The Strobel Group does

The Strobel Group, Inc. is a boutique mergers and acquisitions advisory firm founded in 1991 and headquartered in Cedarburg, Wisconsin. The firm specializes exclusively in providing buy-side and sell-side M&A advisory services to companies operating in the specialty chemical vertical, including paints, coatings, inks, adhesives, sealants, composites, and chemical distribution. Co-founded by brothers Rich and Phil Strobel, the firm has operated as a senior-led boutique for 34+ years; Phil retired on December 31, 2019, and current operations are anchored by Rich Strobel (primary deal maker) and Penny Strobel (Vice President, research and database), supported by a small team.

The firm's service offering spans the full M&A lifecycle: business valuation, Confidential Information Memorandum development, buyer or seller identification, negotiation support, due diligence coordination, and closing assistance. There is no technology platform—the offering is pure senior-level professional services delivered by the principals. The firm monetizes through transaction-based advisory fees, custom-priced per engagement based on deal size and complexity. Sell-side clients are typically profitable privately-held businesses with $5 million to $250+ million in sales, while buy-side clients range from $50 million to several billion in revenue. The firm maintains a proprietary database of 1,600+ specialty chemical companies curated over decades, which underpins its sourcing capability.

The go-to-market motion is relationship-based: marketing primarily through client referrals, industry reputation, website presence, and direct outreach leveraging the proprietary database. The firm does not engage in broad-based marketing, does not have public pricing, and does not disclose revenue. Operations are national (USA) with a single Cedarburg office, and the firm is privately held with no external funding rounds, parent company, or subsidiaries—a bootstrapped, founder-owned boutique model.

Name

The Strobel Group

Legal name

The Strobel Group, Inc.

Website

https://thestrobelgroup.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Strobel Group is a boutique M&A advisory firm founded in 1991 that exclusively serves buyers and sellers in the specialty chemical industry (paints, coatings, inks, adhesives, sealants, composites), operating as a 2–3 person senior-led practice from Cedarburg, Wisconsin with a proprietary database of 1,600+ industry companies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Investment Banking & M&A Advisory

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Other Management Consulting Services (541618)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industries

Divestitures, Carve-Outs & Spin-Off Advisory (FSAEAGAL), Corporate Development & Strategic Partnerships Advisory (JVs, Alliances, Carve-outs) (BPAHAOAG), Buy-Side Search & Acquisition Advisory (FSAEAIAD)

Keywords

• Mergers and acquisitions advisory
• Specialty chemicals consulting
• M&A advisory services
• Buy-side advisory
• Sell-side advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Cedarburg

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

Revenue model

1. M&A Advisory Services: Transaction-based advisory fees for merger and acquisition consulting services. Provides acquisition and divestiture advisory to both buyers and sellers in the specialty chemical industry.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Strobel Group provides mergers and acquisitions advisory services exclusively within the specialty chemical industry, including paints, coatings, inks, adhesives, sealants, composites, and chemical distribution. The firm delivers buy-side and sell-side advisory to privately-held businesses ($5M-$250M+ in sales) and large enterprises ($50M to several billion in sales), managing each engagement from valuation through closing with senior-level attention.

Product overview

The Strobel Group is a boutique M&A consulting firm offering specialized advisory services exclusively within the specialty chemical space. The firm operates as a single unified service offering—M&A Advisory Services—encompassing both buy-side and sell-side engagements for clients ranging from privately-held businesses ($5 million to $250+ million in sales) to publicly-traded companies. Key service components include business valuation, Confidential Information Memorandum (CIM) development, buyer/seller identification, negotiation assistance, and due diligence coordination. The firm does not offer modular products or separate platform tiers; all services are delivered directly by senior team members (Rich Strobel and Penny Strobel) throughout the engagement lifecycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• M&A Advisory Services

Named customers20 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Broad incumbents

• Stout: Stout is a global advisory firm with a chemicals practice that provides M&A and valuation services. It is larger and broader than Strobel but competes for many of the same specialty chemical sell-side and buy-side mandates.
• Lincoln International: Lincoln International is a global mid-market investment bank with dedicated chemicals and industrial coverage. It competes with Strobel for larger specialty chemical M&A engagements, particularly on the buy-side for corporate strategics.
• Houlihan Lokey: Houlihan Lokey's Industrials and Chemicals practices provide M&A advisory across the specialty chemicals value chain. It is a much larger incumbent that competes for the upper end of Strobel's addressable market.
• KeyBanc Capital Markets (Industrials & Chemicals): KeyBanc Capital Markets' Industrials and Chemicals group provides M&A advisory to specialty chemical companies. It is a broader incumbent that competes for buy-side and sell-side mandates in Strobel's verticals.
• Piper Sandler (Chemicals practice): Piper Sandler provides M&A and financing advisory with a dedicated chemicals and specialty materials practice. It competes for strategic and PE-backed chemical transactions alongside Strobel.

Direct peers

• MarshBerry: MarshBerry is a specialty investment bank focused on M&A advisory for the insurance, financial services, and specialty chemicals distribution sectors. It serves as a peer particularly in chemical distribution M&A where Strobel is active.
• Brown Gibbons Lang & Company: BGL is a middle-market investment bank with active M&A coverage in specialty chemicals, plastics, and packaging. It competes for similar sell-side and buy-side mandates in the sub-sectors Strobel serves.
• Grace Matthews: Grace Matthews is a boutique investment bank exclusively focused on M&A advisory for the chemicals and materials sector. It is the most direct peer to The Strobel Group given its specialty-chemicals exclusivity, similar team size, and similar sell-side/buy-side mandate mix.
• Sciens Global (formerly SCIENS Worldwide): Sciens Global is an M&A advisory firm with a dedicated specialty chemicals practice covering paints, coatings, adhesives, sealants, and composites. It is a direct competitor for mid-market chemical M&A mandates.
• The ChemQuest Group: ChemQuest provides strategic advisory and M&A services specifically to the specialty chemicals, coatings, adhesives, and sealants industries. Its vertical focus and client profile overlap almost exactly with Strobel's target market.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 The Strobel Group