Sector · Specialty Manufacturing & Industrials

The investment bank
for selling your
manufacturing company.

Carleton McKenna & Co specializes in middle market sell-side M&A advisory for specialty manufacturing and industrial companies. We have closed transactions across precision manufacturing, value-add distribution, fluid power, automotive components, and industrial services.

Why Owners Choose Us

Manufacturing M&A is
different.
So is our approach.

Buyers underwrite manufacturing businesses on a different set of metrics than service or consumer companies: EBITDA quality, capex profile, customer concentration, machine utilization, working capital intensity, and the durability of competitive moats. Getting these right in your positioning materials is the difference between a fair multiple and a premium one.

Our team has spent decades presenting these characteristics to acquirers in ways that hold up through diligence. That experience translates directly into stronger bids and better terms for our clients.

EBITDA normalization expertise. We identify and defend every legitimate adjustment to your reported earnings, often expanding the EBITDA base used to calculate purchase price.
Customer concentration positioning. Where concentration exists, we frame it accurately and structure transactions to mitigate buyer concern.
Capex transparency. Maintenance vs. growth capex distinctions matter to buyers. We separate them clearly and explain the difference.
Strategic and PE buyer access. Direct relationships with the most active acquirers in industrial manufacturing across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.
Reshoring tailwinds. We help domestic manufacturers articulate the value of U.S.-based production in a buyer market that increasingly rewards it.
Select Recent Manufacturing Transactions

Track record, not
marketing claims.

01
Cleveland Electric Laboratories
Test & Measurement
Sell-Side M&A
02
TestOil
Test & Measurement
Sell-Side M&A
03
Webster & Allor-Plesh
Specialty Manufacturing
Sell-Side M&A
04
Webster Industries
Industrial Manufacturing
Sell-Side M&A
05
Commercial Fluid Power
Value-Add Distribution
Sell-Side M&A
Considering selling your
manufacturing business?

Start with a confidential conversation. We will share what buyers are paying for companies like yours and what your path to closing looks like.

Speak With Us