Mr. Baker is a mergers and acquisitions advisory services professional with extensive experience covering 15 years. He has co-founded two middle market acquisition search and advisory services firms and participated in over 50 transactions with an aggregate value of over $1 billion. Mr. Baker has led numerous buy side advisory engagements for Fortune 500 and fast growth publicly traded companies and private equity groups. He has advised on private equity platform and add-on acquisitions, corporate add-on acquisitions, business start-ups and sell side transactions. As a senior professional, Mr. Baker brings strong leadership skills combined with strategic vision and hands on management to acquisition searches.
Currently, Mr. Baker serves as President and Managing Director of White Oak Partners LLC. Mr. Baker co-founded White Oak Partners to specialize in mergers and acquisitions search and advisory services focused on the lower end of the middle market ($1-20 million EBITDA companies). Based on his previous experiences, Mr. Baker believes the lower end of the middle market presents the best opportunity to acquire companies on a non-auction basis and generate significant investment returns. Since founding White Oak Partners, Mr. Baker has participated in 6 transactions with a cumulative value in excess of $130 million.
Prior to co-founding, White Oak Partners, Mr. Baker was a co-founder of Gateway Partners, a leading acquisition search and advisory services firm supporting public and private companies and private equity groups. While at Gateway Partners, Mr. Baker helped develop the business model and manage the start up, which led to the creation of a highly successful mergers and acquisitions services firm. His responsibilities included all aspects of management and transaction services, including generating clients, project management, sourcing of transactions and advising clients on valuation and deal structuring. Mr. Baker also led the CEO recruitment practice and industry think tank activities, which were integral to creating new investment opportunities for private equity groups. During his tenure with Gateway Partners, Mr. Baker participated in 29 transactions ranging in size from $500,000 to $80 million with a cumulative value of over $500 million.
Prior to Gateway Partners, Mr. Baker was a Director with W.E. Myers & Co., a leading acquisition search and advisory services firm focused on supporting private equity groups and public companies. While at W.E. Myers & Co., Mr. Baker supported the development of new investment strategies for private equity groups with activities including industry research, executive recruitment, investment thesis co-development and acquisition search and advisory services. He also provided corporate acquisition search and advisory services for numerous public companies. During his tenure with W.E. Myers & Co., Mr. Baker participated in 16 transactions with a cumulative value of approximately $500 million.
Prior to W.E. Myers & Co., Mr. Baker held management positions in a recycling services and a payroll processing firm. He received a Master of Business Administration degree from University of San Diego and a Bachelor of Arts in Business Management from University of Hartford. Mr. Baker is married with two children and resides in Raleigh, North Carolina.