About Us
VSTH is a privately held merchant bank providing investment
banking services and private equity investment backed by
our own capital. We are headquartered in Charlotte, NC,
the country’s second largest financial center.
Our profile and experience comprise:
∙ Over one hundred business transactions as investors, buyers or sellers of companies
∙ Seventy-five years of combined senior executive experience in operating companies
∙ Transactions ranging in size from three million to three hundred million dollars
∙ Extensive experience with private equity transactions
The different backgrounds of our professionals – entrepreneurial, investment banking, operational, legal, financial, tax structuring and technology – offer a compelling value proposition to the people and companies we invest in and work with.
VSTH’s complementary skills and breadth of experience are superior to that of our competition. While many firms have turned their attention away from the middle market, VSTH remains firmly
committed to the active pursuit of opportunities in this space.
Merchant Banking
SOLUTIONS & RESULTS
VSTH brings a host of experience from various national firms, including KPMG, Ernst and Young’s Mergers & Acquisitions Group, Arthur Anderson and Grant Thornton.
Two Parts to the Equation
VSTH Capital
VSTH Capital seeks to invest its own funds in opportunities
with talented entrepreneurs to build successful business
enterprises. In addition to financial resources, VSTH brings to
its partnerships a wide array of experience and resources.
Unlike most funds, the money we invest is entirely ours. We
have no limited partners that might influence our decision
making process, giving us greater flexibility to act without
hindrance as to industry, geography or other typical investment
constraints. We review both minority and control
opportunities, and invest in various stages, from seed to private
equity. Our portfolio spans an array of industries including:
Consumer Products, Nutrition, Healthcare, Packaging,
Confectionary, Specialty Entertainment and Real Estate.
VSTH Group
As advisors, we assist our clients in the analysis and execution
of a broad range of sophisticated transactions, such as mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financings, and restructurings. To our clients, these transactions often present pivotal events that must be executed flawlessly with a focus on maximizing value and minimizing execution risk. Our experience in owning, operating and selling businesses gives us a unique owner perspective on these transactions and the value a quality advisor should provide. We bring the highest level of quality, integrity and responsiveness to the process.
Focus
The VSTH Group represents the long-held vision of its founders to create a merchant bank firmly anchored in the middle markets. After many years of experience as both advisors and operators, the founders were fully aware of the difficulty middle-market players faced in obtaining private equity capital and high quality advisory expertise.
Partners Kerry Vickar and Bryan Smith grew CorrFlex Graphics – a provider of packaging and display products – from inception to more than two hundred million dollars in revenues before selling it to Sonoco Products [NYSE: SON] for two hundred fifty million dollars.
In growing CorrFlex, they learned the true value of trusted advice and access to capital. They also found that neither was readily available to small and mid-size companies as quality advisors and investors increasingly moved upstream in their markets to chase ever-larger transactions.
Patrick Heinrich, VSTH’s Managing Partner, joined the two entrepreneurs in fulfilling their vision after ten-plus years as a corporate attorney and M&A banker where he observed many of the same phenomena. He saw great opportunity in offering Wall-Street level expertise where it was not previously obtainable.
