Vantage Insurance Partners, Inc. (“Vantage” or the “Company”), a portfolio company of DFW Capital Partners (“DFW”), is proud to announce that it has closed on three initial partnership transactions during the first year of its inception. The Company’s initial platform acquisitions – a leading commercial P&C retail agency located in the Tri-State area (closed in July 2020) and a Southeast-based retail and wholesale agency with diversified offerings in both P&C and employee benefits (closed in December 2020) – are with founder-led management teams that place high value on long-term alignment in their respective firms through the retention of direct ownership. In addition to the two initial platforms (where the Company acquired majority positions), Vantage also acquired a minority stake in a tech-enabled MGA focused on specialty lines with offices in the Southeast, Midwest and West Coast.
Vantage was founded in early 2020 by industry veterans Alex Panlilio and Lou Caltavuturo, who have over four decades of combined M&A, operating, advisory and management experience in the insurance brokerage industry. Their vision for the Company was to create a partnership model that promotes a joint focus on growing EBITDA, making accretive tuck-in acquisitions and providing for a planned, yet very flexible succession vehicle – elements that are increasingly more important to entrepreneurs who are still in “growth-mode” and not ready for a full-sale transaction. As a result, Vantage offers an alternative that provides these entrepreneurs with a structure that:
- Enables them to directly retain a personally meaningful equity stake in their firms, as well as the opportunity to have future sale/monetization events of their retained equity;
- allocates annual profits to all shareholders;
- further aligns current and key future leaders in their firm as long-term shareholders; and
- preserves their firm’s name, brand and culture for the foreseeable future.
“DFW’s investing approach is to back strong management teams, commit considerable capital and assist in their expansion, which is consistent with the Vantage model,” said Keith Pennell, DFW’s Managing Partner. “We partnered with Alex and Lou because we recognized the opportunity for a differentiated platform with seasoned operators who understand the power of aligned interests with entrepreneurs,” he added. DFW has provided a significant equity commitment to Vantage, which also has partnered with Madison Capital Funding to provide debt financing to support future acquisitions and growth across all of the Company’s platforms.
If you are interested in learning more about Vantage, please feel free to reach out to Alex at apanlilio@vantageptr.com or Lou at lcaltavuturo@vantageptr.com.
About DFW Capital Partners
Founded in 1983, DFW is a private equity firm with an established record of making control investments in high-growth, middle-market companies with a particular expertise in the healthcare, business services and industrial service sectors. The firm is also currently invested in ReSource Pro, a leader in operations efficiency and business process outsourcing solutions for the insurance industry with operations across the U.S. and in Asia. DFW is headquartered in Teaneck, NJ with a presence in Chevy Chase, MD. (www.dfwcapital.com)