Board advisory · Transactions · Selective executive leadership · Founded 2004
When the numbers have to hold—and the plan has to work.
Elia & Partners works selectively with owners, acquirers, and boards on consequential financial and operating challenges: economics that hold under pressure, plans lenders will actually fund, and management teams capable of carrying them.
Engagements begin with a clear mandate, access to the facts, and agreement on who owns the decisions.
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 |
What we do
Engagements vary in length but follow the same discipline: establish the facts, define the decisions, assign accountability, and stay closely involved through execution.
Board and investor support
Board-level advisory for owners and sponsors, and preparation for the people who will check your work.
Exit and transaction readiness
Preparing a business to be diligenced — before a buyer or lender finds what you haven't.
Capital raising and banking relations
Structuring the ask, running the syndicate, and holding the covenant conversation when it gets hard.
Operational improvement
Improving manufacturing performance and capacity planning, with clear management accountability for sustaining the results.
Interim executive leadership
Taking defined CEO or CFO responsibility during a transition, with a clear mandate, direct access to the board or owner, and authority matched to the expected results.
Turnaround and restructuring
Working with aligned owners, boards, and management teams to stabilize operations and liquidity, rebuild lender confidence, and execute a measurable recovery plan.
Selected Recent Engagements
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.
Employee-owned provider of audio and communications products. Strategic planning, M&A advisory, and fractional CFO support.
Board and advisory service
Led development of the Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition initiative and helped establish the first Southeast ETA conference.
Board service through the software company's growth, capital raising, and development of its financial and operating infrastructure.
Continued advisory support following the sale of the business to American Industrial Partners.
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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—and want an independent assessment, clear accountability, and a plan grounded in what the facts support—let's have a conversation.
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.

President & Managing Director
MBA, Duke (Fuqua) · CPA, inactive