Balentine Acquires Valuation Growth Advisory to Expand Family Office Capabilities

Balentine has acquired Alpharetta, Georgia-based Valuation Growth Advisory in an all-stock transaction, adding business-advisory services to its family-office platform for entrepreneurs and multigenerational families.

Tom Matthesen, VGA’s founder, will become head of Business Advisory within Balentine’s Family Office Solutions group. He will work alongside Mark Bell, Balentine’s chief strategy officer and head of family-office solutions, as the firm seeks to coordinate business advice with wealth management, private capital and estate planning.

“For many entrepreneurial families, their business is both their largest asset and integral to their family’s identity and legacy,” Bell said. The acquisition is intended to help Balentine deliver a more integrated planning process, he added.

Matthesen brings more than 30 years of experience across corporate lending, turnaround management, debt and equity advisory, executive leadership and entrepreneurship. At VGA, he advised middle-market businesses on improving operating performance, strengthening leadership teams, arranging financing and increasing enterprise value.

Before founding VGA, Matthesen was chief executive officer of Presidential Financial Corp., a provider of growth and turnaround financing for small and middle-market companies, including private-equity-backed businesses. His tenure included a turnaround and eventual sale of the company to MidFirst Bank. He also served as president of Thrive Farmers, an Atlanta-area coffee company using a revenue-sharing model intended to increase growers’ share of sales proceeds.

Financial terms were not disclosed. Balentine advises on more than $9 billion of client assets and focuses on families and business owners, according to its announcement.

Pictured: Tom Matthesen joins as Head of Business Advisory, Balentine.