Merchant-Banking Services


Bella Carlo LLC’s merchant-banking services provide strategic funding to privately-owned, small- to middle-market firms to facilitate retirement, succession, growth, management buyouts, capital restructuring, turnarounds and/or bankruptcy reorganizations. Our funding is typically through partnerships with existing management teams in scalable operating companies that have established revenues and predictable cash flows.

A typical candidate for investment will have annual revenues ranging from $3 million to $70 million and will be focused on food and agricultural products or supporting businesses.  Alternatively, we are opportunistic investors in other, like businesses that benefit from sound management fundamentals and support. 

Bella Carlo LLC, as your merchant banker, offers a seasoned perspective, well-researched and long-term view of the markets in order to determine a range of business contingencies and outcomes that provides evidence for success. From an operational standpoint, we also take a near-term perspective because it’s important to know how consumers, customers, competition and costs impact the business daily. In every case, we start with research to provide insights into the business, its operations and the opportunities.

We take advantage of our awareness of prospective strategic relationships and alliances in food and agriculture as well as the industry’s best practices in order to leverage a company’s assets.  Knowledge of the markets has been developed over the years in and through thorough research of the industry.

As operators, we also look to purchase businesses or assets that align with our likes and talents.  A typical target for acquisition is a company in food and agriculture with a sustainable business.  We look for companies with management teams that could execute growth plans and would look for the opportunity to do so.  We like companies that would benefit from simple plans founded on fundamentals and good marketing and sales strategies.

Lastly, we realize success is driven by options. The more options available for each venture, the higher the probability of success.  Thus, Bella Carlo LLC works to uncover imaginative and viable options for all our clients.

Specific merchant banking services include: 

  • Strategic and Operational Planning
  • Financial Modeling and Optional Structuring
  • Turnarounds and Workouts
  • Business Valuation
  • Sale and Acquisition of Businesses
  • Capital Restructuring
  • Fund Raising

The following diagram maps and summarizes Bella Carlo’s services and capabilities and the interactions among them that Bella Carlo provides to agriculture.

Diagram