Peakstone Advises EarthWise Pet on Financing for its Acquisition of 42 Franchise Locations and Independently Branded Stores

November, 2022. Peakstone served as exclusive financial advisor to Earthwise Pet arranging financing for EarthWise Pet’s acquisition of 42 franchise locations and independently branded stores. With this acquisition, EarthWise Pet expands to over 170 locations, of which approximately 75% are franchisee-owned and 25% are corporate-owned.

EarthWise Pet is a premier pet services platform with a 40+ year track record of providing brand-focused all-natural pet food, eco-friendly toys and supplies, and grooming and daycare services.

“We are well-positioned for strong organic and acquisition growth. In addition to our core and rapidly growing franchise base, we are leveraging our organization and network to pursue additional accretive acquisitions, enabling us to execute on our broader pet services strategy,” stated Mike Seitz, Earthwise Pet’s CEO.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

For additional information please contact:

Alex Fridman, Managing Partner, 312-346-7303, alex@peakstone.com

Stephen Sleigh, Managing Partner, 312-346-7318, ssleigh@peakstone.com

Noah Robles, Senior Analyst, 305-494-2035, nrobles@peakstone.com

About Peakstone

Peakstone is a leading investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, advisory, and capital raising for middle market clients. Our team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. For additional information, visit www.peakstone.com. To receive investment and proprietary acquisition opportunities, please register at www.peakzone.com.

Peakstone Advises Sales Empowerment Group on its sale to RFE Investment Partners

October, 2022. Peakstone served as exclusive M&A advisor to Sales Empowerment Group, LLC in connection with its sale to RFE Investment Partners.Founded in 2009 and headquartered in Chicago, SEG has helped more than 500 companies across various end markets accelerate revenue growth through its unique hands-on approach. SEG offers a full suite of services including outsourced business development and marketing resources, talent acquisition, sales training, sales technology, sales DNA assessments and marketing services, as well as consulting services through fractional CROs and CMOs.Brian O’Neil, CEO of SEG noted, “We engaged Peakstone to find a partner that understood our industry, how the SEG model works, and could provide the necessary resources/capital to accelerate our growth even faster. Peakstone conducted a very thorough process and with their strong advice, hard work, patience, and persistence we were able to complete a transaction with an ideal partner in RFE Investment Partners.”Bill Bronander, Principal of RFE said, “RFE is excited to partner with Brian and the SEG management team. The Company has a clear and unique value proposition helping middle market firms accelerate their revenue growth across a wide range of industries.”Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.For additional information please contact:

Peter Melloni, Managing Director, 630-664-3457, pmelloni@peakstone.comJeff Temple, Managing Director, 312-346-7301, jtemple@peakstone.com

About Peakstone

Peakstone is a leading investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, advisory, and capital raising for middle market clients. Our team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. For additional information, visit www.peakstone.com. To receive investment and proprietary acquisition opportunities, please register at www.peakzone.com.About Sales Empowerment Group

SEG is a sales and marketing execution firm providing services that drive revenue growth. The Company uses a strategic, time-tested approach, and works with its clients to create a sales-focused culture that helps grow revenue faster. SEG serves a variety of middle-market and larger companies in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, technology, professional services, and other sectors. For more information, visit www.salesempowermentgroup.com.About RFE Investment Partners

RFE Investment Partners is a private equity firm focused on making control investments in established small market companies located in the United States. RFE is a long-standing firm founded in 1980 with over 40 years of experience investing in the lower middle market. RFE’s investment strategy is to transform its portfolio companies from the lower end of the market to fully professionalized and market-leading middle-market companies. RFE is currently investing out of Fund IX. For more information, visit www.rfeip.com.

Peakstone Recognized as a Top Lower Middle Market Consumer Advisory Firm

September 2022. We are pleased to announce that Axial named Peakstone as one of Axial’s top Lower Middle Market Consumer M&A Advisors. For the news release and additional information, please CLICK HERE.Peakstone is a leading investment bank that specializes in mergers and acquisitions, advisory, and capital raising for middle market clients. Our team is comprised of senior investment banking professionals who have decades of experience and have executed hundreds of transactions totaling billions of dollars. For additional information, visit www.peakstone.com. To receive investment and proprietary acquisition opportunities, please register at www.peakzone.com.

Peakstone Advises Medical Device Company on Sale Transaction

Peakstone Publishes Industry Reports

July, 2022. Peakstone’s industry reports can be accessed through the links below. We deliver sector knowledge, experience, and relationships to every client. Please contact us for additional information about our services.

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Update: Packaging M&A Update – July, 2022

July, 2022

In first half of 2022, the median transaction value in Packaging decreased to $123 million. In Q1 2022, strategic buyers accounted for 90% of transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– An unknown buyer closed its acquisition of Transit Packaging’s Kiwiplan business of Crown Holdings for $182 million in April 2022.

– Intertape Polymer Group closed its acquisition of Substantially All of Operating Assets of Syfan Manufacturing for $18 million in March 2022.

– Durango Mckinley Paper Company closed its acquisition of Midwest Paper Group for $204 million in February 2022.

– SIG Group closed its acquisition of Scholle IPN Corporation for $1.8 billion in February 2022.

– Gulf Refined Packaging closed its acquisition of Flexible Packaging Joint Venture of Greif for $123 million in January 2022.

Update: Digital Commerce M&A Update – July, 2022

July, 2022

In first half of 2022, the median transaction value in Digital Commerce was $131 million. In first half of 2022, strategic buyers accounted for 97% of transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Youngor Group closed its acquisition of Alexander Wang at an undisclosed value in May 2022.

– Betterware de Mexico closed its acquisition of Operations in Mexico and The United States of Jafra S.A. for $255 million in January 2022.

– Emerge Commerce closed its acquisition of WholesalePet.com for $25 million in November 2021.

– priceline.com closed its acquisition of Consumer Club for $1,200 million in November 2021.

Update: Transportation and Logistics M&A Update – July, 2022

July, 2022

In first half of 2022, the median transaction value in Transportation & Logistics was $105 million. In first half of 2022, strategic buyers accounted for 90% of transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Schenker closed its acquisition of USA Truck for $473 million in June 2022.

– Heartland Express closed its acquisition of Smith Transport for $170 million in June 2022.

– HG Vora Capital Management closed its acquisition of Ryder System for $4.1 billion in May 2022.

– Shopify closed its acquisition of Deliverr for $2.1 billion in May 2022.

Update: Technology and Software M&A Update – July, 2022

July, 2022

In first half of 2022, the median transaction value in Tech & Software was $48 million. In first half of 2022, strategic buyers accounted for 93% of transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– SMART Global Holdings closed its acquisition of Stratus Technologies for $275 million in June 2022.

– Siemens Smart Infrastructure closed its acquisition of Brightly Software for $1.9 billion in June 2022.

– Hellman & Friedman; GIC; Abu Dhabi Investment Authority; Permira Advisers closed its acquisition of Zendesk for $10.9 billion in June 2022.

– Cornerstone OnDemand closed its acquisition of SumTotal Systems for $200 million in June 2022.

– Broadcom closed its acquisition of Vmware for $72.8 billion in May 2022.

Update: Pet M&A Update – July, 2022

July, 2022

In first half of 2022, the median transaction value in Pet was $270 million. In first half of 2022, strategic buyers accounted for 84% of transactions.

Select recent notable publicly announced M&A transactions:

– Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; TPG Global closed its acquisition of Covetrus for $3.6 billion in May 2022.

– Swedencare closed its acquisition of The Garmon Corporation for $468 million in January 2022.

– Sentinel Real Estate Corporation closed its acquisition of Airdrie at Paoli Station for $71 million in January 2022.

– Manna Pro Products closed its acquisition of Oxbow Enterprises for $135 million in December 2021.

– Eurazeo & Cohesive Capital Management & Cherng Family Trust closed its acquisition of Beekman 1802 for $92 million in December 2021.