Board advisory · Transactions · Selective executive leadership · Founded 2004

When your numbers and your business tell different stories.

Elia & Partners helps owners, boards, and acquirers find and resolve the disconnect between the forecast and operations, the transaction story and diligence, or the plan and the team expected to deliver it, before a lender, buyer, or liquidity problem forces the answer.

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President & Managing Director

Mike Elia

Mike spent most of a 35-year operating career as CFO of four platform companies, followed by five years as CEO. His experience spans public, private, and private-equity-owned businesses.

Former CEO of a private-equity-backed company
29 completed M&A transactions
$1.5B in capital arranged

When to call

The forecast works, but the operating plan does not.
A lender or investor is asking for proof the team cannot produce.
A sale or acquisition is on the table, and the case for it has not been tested.
Someone is accountable for a result they don't control.
Everyone is working on the problem, but no one agrees what the problem is.

What we do

Elia & Partners works across three areas, each built around the same requirements: establish the facts, define the decisions, align responsibility with authority, and stay closely involved through execution.

Board advisory

Independent judgment for owners, boards, and investors when financial performance, operating reality, and management accountability are not fully aligned.

Transactions

Buy-side and sell-side support, capital readiness, financing, diligence, negotiation, and integration from the initial thesis through closing.

Selective executive leadership

Defined CEO or CFO responsibility during a transition, turnaround, or consequential operating period, with direct access to the owner or board and authority matched to the expected result.

The record

Twenty-nine closed M&A transactions across four platform companies, public and private-equity-owned, plus the financings that funded them. A selection, with amounts as announced.

Year	Transaction	Role	Amount
2016	Gerber ScientificSale to American Industrial Partners at 9.2x EBITDA	President & CEO	$360.0M
2011	Gerber ScientificTake-private with Vector Capital, 24% premium	EVP & CFO	$303.0M
2008	Virtek Vision InternationalAcquisition of TSX-listed laser templating business	EVP & CFO	$29.0M
2007	FastenTechMerger with Doncasters Group	SVP & CFO	$492.0M
2005	Ogre HoldingsCombustion components for gas turbine engines	SVP & CFO	$40.0M
2005	BNC & AssociatesStud-welded fasteners and systems	SVP & CFO	$17.2M
2004	GCE IndustriesPrecision fabrications for turbine and aerospace	SVP & CFO	$30.0M
2000	Insilco AutomotiveSpin-out to ThermaSys Corporation	SVP & CFO	$144.5M
2000	T.A.T. TechnologiesCustom wire, cable, and electro-mechanical assemblies	SVP & CFO	$100.6M
2000	Taylor PublishingDivestiture of the yearbook business	SVP & CFO	$93.5M
1997	Jordan Telecommunication ProductsFormation via a series of transactions	CFO	$294.0M
1997	Telephone Services, Inc.Custom cable assemblies for OEMs and RBOCs	CFO	$53.3M

29closed M&A transactions

$2.4Bin total deal value

$1.5Barranged in bank debt, debentures, and preferred

4platform companies as CFO, then CEO of one

Selected Recent Engagements

United Record Pressing Strategic advisor · 2020–2026

Strategic and financial advisory through a period of rapid industry growth and operating change, including manufacturing performance, capacity and financial planning, leadership assessment, and lender readiness.

AVID Products Strategic advisor · 2024–

Employee-owned provider of audio and communications products. Strategic planning, M&A advisory, and fractional CFO support.

Board and advisory service

Duke University, Fuqua School of Business Board of Visitors · 2018–2026

Led development of the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition initiative and helped establish the first Southeast ETA conference.

SEDDI Board member · 2020–2026

Board service through the software company's growth, capital raising, and development of its financial and operating infrastructure.

Gerber Technology Advisory board · 2017–2018

Continued advisory support following the sale of the business to American Industrial Partners.

Free · 8 pages · PDF

Understanding the Mind of the Investor

I wrote this in 2004, in the investor's own voice: what they're actually feeling while you present, and why none of it shows up in your deck. The mechanics of raising money have changed since. What an investor does with doubt has not.

I feel that I'm taking a personal risk. I'm putting my money into the hands of someone else and giving up some degree of control over it. From the report

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Start a conversation

If you're facing a financing, transaction, leadership transition, or operating challenge, let's have a conversation. You'll get an independent assessment, clear accountability, and a plan grounded in what the facts support, from someone who has closed the transactions and then had to operate them.

Send me the one thing you cannot currently prove. I'll tell you honestly whether it is a gap you can close or a reason to reconsider the plan.

Email[email protected]
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/mike-r-elia
OfficeDurham, North Carolina

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