June 28, 2022 | LONDON — Arlington Capital Advisors, a leading investment bank offering financial and strategic advisory services to the consumer industry, expands its global reach by opening an office in London, England. Arlington has also added Rob Belanger and Raphael Schuler to its team as Vice President and Analyst, respectively, to strengthen its M&A execution capabilities in Europe.
Arlington has been successfully advising clients across the globe for over 18 years. By choosing the UK as its first international location, Arlington can now work more seamlessly with companies located outside the North American continent.
“ACA’s London office is a massive step forward for our firm. We’re now better placed to serve our clients and have access to a broader talent pool as we grow our team,” said Vann Russell, Arlington’s Founder and Managing Director.
Stephan Pietge, who joined Arlington as a Managing Director last December to strengthen the firm’s position internationally, comments: “We’ve made tremendous progress connecting with clients – new and old – in the UK and Europe over the last months. Having an office in London allows us to interact more closely with our clients. While everything can be done over video conference in the post-COVID era, nothing builds relationships like meeting our clients in person.”
Arlington’s London office is located at 210 Euston Road, London NW1 2DA.
“We intend to continue to grow the team here in London to help meet the demand we’re seeing for our services internationally,” added Pietge. The firm hired Rob Bélanger in early June as a Vice President to lead the execution of client mandates. Bélanger has many years of investment banking experience at bulge bracket banks and has recently acted as CFO / COO helping entrepreneurs whose businesses were facing challenges transformative in nature. In addition, Raphael Schuler joined Arlington in January 2022 as an Analyst, having prior investment banking experience at a middle market-focused firm.
Arlington Capital Advisors is a leading investment bank focused on providing businesses in the consumer sector with financial and strategic advisory services, including sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory, sourcing growth capital and other capital-centric strategic alternatives. US securities offered through its affiliate, Arlington Capital Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. Arlington Capital Advisors, Limited is an appointed representative of Kession Capital Ltd., which is authorized and regulated by the FCA.
Arlington Capital Advisors (“ACA”) and The BUMP Williams Consulting Company (“BWC”) are excited to announce the formation of a new strategic alliance between the two companies, which will focus on M&A and strategic advisory services for beverage distributors.
The principals at ACA and BWC bring more than 300+ years of insights and industry experience within the beverage space and will offer a unique perspective into the modern issues and opportunities facing distributors in today’s rapidly evolving industry.
“We have worked very closely with Bump and his team for many years and are very excited to enter into this new venture together”, said JB Shireman, a strategic advisor/industry veteran and partner at ACA.
Bump Williams, President & CEO of BWC, added “I have known JB for the better part of 20 years and have always respected and valued his view and unique insights into this business. I think BWC can only become stronger and more valuable to our clients by partnering up with ACA and leveraging their expertise and deep bench of experience. It’s important to always surround yourself with people smarter than yourself and this alliance allows me to do just that.”
Many factors across the industry are heavily influencing both suppliers and retailers and therefore the
distributors who serve them. Several of these are:
- The rising popularity of non-alcoholic adult beverages
- The explosion of RTD alcoholic beverages of all types
- Large non-alcoholic beverage players entering beverage alcohol
- The growth of DTC and e-commerce for beverage brands
- Regulatory changes on the horizon
- And, most importantly, the absolute control the consumer has over the future direction of beverage.
The parties recognized that these factors will bring complexities and challenges not faced by any of the traditional tiers to date and will very likely dramatically reshape the landscape in the decade ahead.
“This is a uniquely compelling opportunity for us to partner with a longtime industry friend and colleague and his excellent team at BWC. We expect that this alliance will bring a new level of insight and strategic thinking to help us better serve our distributor clients” said Ryan Lake, Director at ACA.
The BWC Company opened its doors on October 15, 2008 and has been operating as a strategic industry consultant to Bev-Alc/Non-Alc Manufacturers, Retailers, Distributors, Wall Street/PE Firms, Packaging Companies and Importers from around the world. The BWC Company’s portfolio of services focus on turning data into insights, better understanding consumer purchase behavior, the impact of pricing and promotion on sales, M&A, developing new product launch strategies, Retail and National Account tactics, Distributor assessment, alignment and Portfolio Innovation.
Arlington Capital Advisors is a leading investment bank focused on providing businesses in the consumer sector with financial and strategic advisory services, including sell-side and buy-side M&A advisory, sourcing growth capital and other capital-centric strategic alternatives. Securities are offered through its affiliate, Arlington Capital Services, LLC, member FINRA/SIPC.
Birmingham, AL
Arlington Capital Advisors, a leading consumer-focused investment bank, recently received recognition with two industry awards for the firm’s role as investment advisor to Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Inc. in its merger with The Boston Beer Company, Inc. (NYSE: SAM).
The Deal awarded the Dogfish Head merger as the Consumer, Retail, Food & Beverage Deal of the Year in its Middle Market Awards. The Deal recognizes the leading lawyers, bankers, investors and advisers in middle-market transactions each year at its Middle Market Awards ceremony.
Additionally, The M&A Advisor awarded the Dogfish Head merger with the Consumer Staples Deal of the Year award at its 18th annual M&A Advisor Awards.
“We are honored to be recognized by our peers and the recognition is a great testimony to our mission of being the trusted advisor to premium consumer brands,” said Vann Russell, founder and Managing Director at Arlington Capital. “We are fortunate to have been able to work with Sam, Mariah and the rest of the Dogfish Head team.”
Arlington Capital Advisors is a boutique investment bank that specializes in providing businesses in the consumer sector with advisory services. Arlington focuses on providing strategic advice to its clients, including sell-side and buy-side mergers and acquisitions, sourcing growth capital and other capital-centric strategic alternatives for businesses. Securities offered through its affiliate, Arlington Capital Services, member FINRA/SIPC.
Please visit arlingtoncapitaladvisors.com for more information.
