Former Qatalyst bankers launch new tech M&A advisory firm AXOM Partners

PJT Partners

18/09/2023 11:00

By Milana Vinn
       Sept 18 (Reuters) - Three former Qatalyst Partners
bankers have formed a new investment banking boutique called
AXOM Partners, which will focus on advising technology companies
on mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
    Brandon Hightower, Alan Bressers, and Ross Weiner said they
will focus on working with small and mid-sized technology
companies in sectors such as generative artificial and
conversational intelligence.
   "We want to advise companies, investors, and builders of the
next wave of disruptive technology, and we want to help them
early on their journey," Hightower said in an interview.
    Qatalyst, the investment bank the trio left behind, also
specializes in technology deals and has the No. 5 spot
year-to-date in data vendor Dealogic's U.S. dealmaking league
table, with a 15.4% market share. Most of Qatalysts's deals are
worth more $1 billion, and Hightower, Bressers and Weiner will
focus on deals that are smaller.
    Based in San Francisco, AXOM will seek to advise on deals in
sectors, including enterprise software, consumer technology,
e-commerce and financial technology. The firm plans to hire up
to 15 full-time employees during its first two years and up to
50 full-time employees during its first five years of operation.
    During a nearly 10-year long career at Qatalyst, Hightower
advised on several high-profile transactions, including
AfterPay's $29 billion sale to Square  SQ.N , Intuit's  INTU.O 
acquisition of CreditKarma for $8.1 billion, and HomeAway's sale
to Expedia Group Inc  EXPE.O  for $3.9 billion.
    Bressers spent 12 years at Qatalyst, where he advised on NXP
Semiconductor’s  NXPI.O  proposed sale to Qualcomm Inc  QCOM.O 
for $46.8 billion, Linear Technology’s sale to Analog Devices
for $14.8 billion, Inphi Corp’s proposed sale to Marvell
Technology Inc  MRVL.O  for $10 billion, and Microsemi’s sale to
Microchip Technology Inc  MCHP.O  for $10.2 billion. 
    All AXOM employees will be rewarded on merit based on an
incentive system, and will be allowed to participate in profit
distributions, Hightower said. 

 (Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York; Editing by Aurroa Ellis)
 ((Milana.Vinn@thomsonreuters.com; Twitter: @MilanaVinn; Reuters
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