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Cincinnati-based investment bank ArkMalibu has opened an Indianapolis office that will be led by local entrepreneur Phil Daniels.
Daniels joined ArkMalibu earlier this year as a senior adviser and is now president of the firm’s Indiana operations.
Currently, Daniels is ArkMalibu’s only Indiana employee, but he said he is actively hiring and plans to have between five and 10 people working with him in Indianapolis by the end of next year. He is currently scouting for office space in downtown Indianapolis.
ArkMalibu was founded in 1990 and exclusively represents business sellers. The size of the deals brokered by ArkMalibu is typically in the $50 million to $100 range, though some deals have been as big as $200 million to $300 million, Daniels said.
Daniels is a five-time founder or co-founder of businesses whose experience includes co-founding Indianapolis-based health data analytics company Springbuk in 2015. Before that, he founded Tactic, a marketing firm that was acquired by TrendyMinds in 2013. He was named as one of IBJ’s Forty Under 40 honorees in 2019.
The Indianapolis office is ArkMalibu’s first regional office outside of Cincinnati, Daniels said, and the firm plans to open several other regional offices in locations to be announced over the next few years.
ArkMalibu helps business owners in a variety of industries prepare their companies for sale, find a buyer and negotiate the deal—a process that typically takes six to 12 months, Daniels said. The firm has not yet closed its first Indiana deal.
The ongoing wave of Baby Boomer retirements represents an opportunity for firms like ArkMalibu, Daniels said, because it’s creating a so-called “silver tsunami” of business owners who are looking to exit their company. “Just the amount of businesses that will be transferred [from] the Boomer generation in coming years—it’s just really important work.”
Indianapolis in particular is a good market for ArkMalibu, Daniels said, because owners here are generally approachable and want more than a quick exit—they want a deal that will preserve their business legacy.
“You think about our community, how many of these businesses have been staples, right?” Daniels said of ArkMalibu’s clients. “They’re sponsoring the Little League teams or civic, arts, community [organizations] and scholarships, and they provide talent and opportunity. So I take it personally in our town that we have to get these transitions right, because there’s too much at stake.”
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