Prairie Capital Advisors
Driving Growth Through Seamless Ownership Transitions
Providing the advice, services and expertise for middle market companies to successfully transition ownership
Prairie Capital Advisors has cemented its position as an industry leading financial advisory firm specializing in helping businesses through the process of ownership transition. Focused on middle-market, US-based companies, this top-tier financial advisory firm has led the way in countless transactions for its clients in a multitude of industries, helping companies through the complexities of ownership transition through broad service offerings, a recognized client-centered approach and by emphasizing proactive measures.
As CEO David Diehl notes, Prairie Capital Advisor’s mission remains to offer independent advice for every client coupled with highly personalized service to achieve shareholder objectives and maximize value.
The Prairie Capital Difference
One of Prairie Capital Advisors’ most distinguishing factors can be boiled down to one concept: relationships.
This idea forms the cornerstone of Prairie Capital Advisors’s operations. Founded on principles of partnership, collaboration, and mutual success, Prairie Capital Advisors has spent decades refining its approach to value creation.
Since its inception in 1996, Prairie Capital Advisors has maintained a steadfast focus on serving the unique needs of middle-market businesses.
Today, Prairie Capital Advisors isn’t just another name in the financial advisory space—it’s a trusted partner to business owners and management teams seeking to navigate the complex process of transition.
Prairie Capital Advisors primarily serves companies with EBITDA ranging from $5 to $25 million. It has seven locations around the country and specializes in a diverse array of services.
“We provide advisory services across a broad specturm of products including traditional mergers and acquisitions, employee stock ownership plans, leveraged buyouts, and internal family transitions. We also provide valuation services for business planning, estate planning, and post transaction financial reporting purposes,” says CEO David Diehl.
Prairie Capital Advisors also works closely with business owners and their advisors when facing pivotal inflection points in their growth journeys, requiring capital to achieve their ambitions. Along with general financial consulting services for management teams and director boards.
One of the product offerings where Prairie Capital Advisors thrives is in the employee stock ownership (ESOP) space. Prairie Capital Advisors is a national leader in advising companies on this structure and they themselves are ESOP owned.
“We have a unique perspective relative to competitors on ESOP advisory because we’ve been employee-owned since 2012. Currently, 57% of our stock is owned by our employees,” Diehl explains.
Rather than imposing rigid operational blueprints, Prairie Capital Advisors prioritizes understanding each business’s intricacies and each owner’s desires as it relates to structuring a transaction. While value is a critical element of any business sale it is very common, that after going through a process with Prairie Capital Advisors, that many sellers realize that there are other elements of a transaction that are more critical to them personally. This often leads clients to consider different alternatives than were originally intended.
“We’re really focused on helping to broadly educate our clients on their alternatives, so rather than trying to fit a client into one box, we help educate them on the pros and cons of a variety of exit strategies,” Diehl says.
The broad product offerings available through Prairie Capital Advisors are a significant differentiating factor compared to their competitors. Many of Prairie Capital Advisors’s clients are not knowledgeable of the different strategies that are available to them in a transition. As such Prairie Capital Advisors spends a significant amount of time educating clients on the alternatives and interviewing clients to ensure that they ultimately pursue the optimal strategy.
Steering Middle-Market Companies Toward Success
While Prairie Capital Advisors is industry agnostic, the largest industry exposure has historically been in the banking, engineering, architectural, construction, manufacturing, and distribution industries.
These companies are also typically founder-led or family-owned. Advising these types of middle-market clients presents distinct challenges and opportunities.
One of Prairie Capital Advisors recent successes highlights its expertise in balancing these complex scenarios while considering stakeholder needs.
Heptacore, a family-owned excavation company, sought to transition ownership while preserving its legacy and rewarding employees.
The company’s shareholder base, comprising multiple generations with diverse financial timelines and interests, presented unique challenges.
Prairie Capital Advisor’s approach combined in-depth education and tailored structuring to meet these varied needs. By addressing both financial and cultural considerations, Prairie Capital Advisors successfully facilitated a transaction that satisfied all parties and upheld Heptacore’s values.
Many companies in niche industries face challenges exactly like this. If the obstacle isn’t ownership transition, it’s an operational inefficiency, talent acquisition, or limited market penetration.
Prairie Capital Advisors’ decentralized operational model allows its service lines—spanning M&A advisory, valuation, and ESOP consulting—to function with tailored strategies while maintaining alignment with overarching goals.
“We’ve decentralized a lot of the decision making and put our employee owners in a position where they can make decisions based on their clients specific needs… we make sure that there’s strong internal communication because there tends to be a lot of collaboration with different product specialties, in order to pull together the details that let the client accurately assess the opportunities in front of them,” Diehl says.
Prairie Capital Advisors also excels at serving its clients by leveraging its external partnerships with other non-client institutions. In managing transactions, the company often coordinates with bankers, lawyers, and wealth managers to facilitate holistic decision-making.
Prairie Capital Advisors essentially acts as, in Diehl’s words, the “quarterback” of the transaction by coordinating and managing the team of external partners.
“We really want partners to be able to exert their influence on the deal and bring their solid level of expertise to the table,” Diehl says, mentioning that as a bonus, many of the non-clientele professionals they work with often introduce Prairie Capital Advisors to new opportunities via referrals, an undisputed win-win-win for all parties involved.
These external parties are happy to introduce their clients to Prairie Capital Advisors because they know that they will leave the interaction with a stronger, clearer view of their options.
As a result, Prairie Capital Advisors enjoys the immense benefit of being able to focus solely on collaboration and education for its clients, and the results naturally draw in repeat business.
The Role of Responsible Leadership and Adaptability Moving Forward
So far, Prairie Capital Advisors has remained ahead of the curve by adopting a flexible and forward-thinking approach when advising clients. By remaining agile and responsive to market dynamics, Prairie Capital Advisors has consistently delivered cutting edge advice to its clients and affiliated professionals.
One of the most impactful ways Prairie Capital Advisors adds value is through leadership development. Prairie Capital Advisors prioritizes building strong relationships across it’s offices and is fixated on developing it’s professionals to provide holistic and consistent deliverables to their clients. When you hire Prairie Capital Advisors , you hire the team rather than an individual.
As Prairie Capital Advisors looks to the future, it’s preparing to capitalize on the “silver tsunami” of baby boomer business owners seeking retirement solutions. Over the next three to five years, Prairie Capital Advisors aims to expand its services and geographic reach, leveraging its expertise to meet increasing demand.
“There’s a tremendous amount of opportunity in the ownership transition space… so right now, we’re expanding our personnel and professional depth within the organization,” Diehl says.
Through its network of industry experts and advisors, Prairie Capital Advisors is facilitating leadership training programs, executive mentorship, and strategic planning workshops for its employees.
Additionally, Prairie Capital Advisors is investing in AI and back-end automation to reduce the administrative burden so that employees can focus more on their areas of expertise.
After all, the advisory landscape is continually evolving, shaped by shifting economic conditions, technological advancements, and consumer preferences.
This approach ensures that Prairie Capital Advisor’s management teams are equipped to navigate immediate challenges and sustain long-term success.
“We have always found that if you make your clients successful and the professionals around you successful, then we will be successful,” Diehl says.
Prairie Capital Advisors has had an amazing run thus far because at the heart of its operations is the belief that relationships drive results.
As Prairie Capital Advisors continues to explore opportunities with middle-market companies, its legacy of success serves as a testament to the power of the collaborative philosophy behind its strategies.
Prairie Capital Advisors will undoubtedly remain a leader, guiding middle-market enterprises for years to come. Its story is one of exemplary growth and resilience—a story that underscores the transformative power of financial advisory done right.
AT A GLANCE
Prairie Capital Advisors
What: An industry-leading financial advisory firm specializing in ownership transitions, merger and acquisition advisory, and valuation services for middle-market companies.
Where: Headquartered in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, Prairie Capital Advisors has seven offices across the United States to serve clients nationwide.
Website: www.prairiecap.com
