About Viking Mergers & Acquisitions

Jay’s father, Brad, was a serial entrepreneur growing and selling 3 of his own businesses. Brad saw an opportunity to take his real-world knowledge to assist other closely held business owners with their exit strategy. After graduating from Appalachian State with a Finance degree, Jay started Viking M&A with his father in June 1996. In 2015, Jay bought out his father and continued to grow the business opening up additional offices. Today, Viking has 13 offices and is the largest of its kind in the Southeast. Jay continues to be recognized as a trusted top producing business intermediary in the Carolinas, while helping lead and guide the Viking team with record growth. Jay’s dedication and experience, combined with his passion for serving business owners, are found in hundreds of successfully closed transactions and satisfied client testimonials.

Jay has served on the board of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) – Charlotte Chapter, including Vice President and then President. He also has served as chairman of the Department of Finance Board at Appalachian State for over 10 years, helping give back to students at his alma mater.

Jay lives in South Charlotte, and is happily married to Deanna, and have a blended family with 5 children.

Throughout the Southeast, Larry closed over 350+ transactions. Additionally, he sourced and raised funding for the buyers in excess of 900 million. Due to his efforts, Larry received national accolades for acquisition and divestiture successes. He attributes his 20 years of consistent transaction acumen to stringent attention to detail, to utilizing proven practices, and to working within a specialized team of individuals.

Larry began his career in manufacturing and distribution. His responsibilities included negotiating and facilitating supply contracts with worldwide retailers and original equipment manufacturers. This opportunity allowed Larry to gain the knowledge he uses today.

After successfully bringing the company to the public on the New York Stock Exchange, he spent the following six years buying, building, and divesting companies. During this period as a business owner buying and selling companies, Larry realized a strong need for professional intermediaries that understand an owner’s prospective while buying, operating, growing, and divesting a business.

Trevor comes to Viking Mergers & Acquisitions with over 19 years of operational leadership experience in Corporate America, where he was a management executive for the Lash Group, one of the nation’s largest reimbursement services firm under a parent Fortune 24 Company.

While working for Lash Group, Trevor developed and executed business strategies for a large profile of patient management programs. These programs are designed to address reimbursement and patient access issues for pharmaceutical companies, medial device manufacturers and biotechnology firms. Trevor’s extensive experience in negotiation, project management, problem solving and communication enables him to have terrific insight on the process of selling your business.

Mike comes to the Viking team with over 30 years of leadership and entrepreneurial experience in accounting and finance, operations, and sales. He has a broad background across a variety of businesses, in nature and in scale, as well as extensive merger and acquisition experience. He has been successful in industry consolidation, turnaround, and start-up situations.

Soon after beginning his career as a CPA for a major accounting firm, Mike was recruited into a client’s corporate accounting group, where he quickly determined that his interest – and value – was with the company’s operations. That led to a series of divisional CFO roles for a number of different businesses, culminating in Mike becoming the corporate CFO. In that role Mike played a key part in developing and executing the growth strategy for the business, focusing on industry consolidation. Over the ensuing 8 years, the company completed more than 40 deals and was itself later sold at a substantial market premium. Mike then went on to run an industry-leading, multi-site manufacturer, where he led a dramatic turnaround in profitability. Following Mike’s exit from the corporate world, he chose to focus on more local and entrepreneurial ventures, first in consulting and later starting his own distribution business in Charleston, SC. Through that experience, he came to appreciate the unique challenges and opportunities of business ownership. Those insights along with his extensive management and deal experience are ideally suited to assist Viking’s clients.

Throughout his career Mike has come to be known for his objectivity in making important business decisions, his innate analytical skills, and his ability to connect with people from all walks of life. Mike aligns well with all of Viking’s core values, in particular integrity, innovation and collaboration.

Mike is the youngest of seven and the only family member to earn a college degree, a BS in Accounting from the University of Scranton. He and his wife Niki have five children. Away from work they enjoy boating, playing tennis, and cooking.

Mark has spent most of his 30-year career working with large and small private equity owned companies preparing businesses for sale and working as an executive on the management team to develop and execute a plan to maximize market value for an eventual sale. He comes to Viking with a strong skill set honed over decades of corporate experience necessary to close deals. These skills include financial analysis, business valuation, due diligence, marketing, negotiating and arranging both equity and debt financing.

In 2015, Mark purchased a regional publishing company, owned it for three years, and successfully sold it. He learned over those three years that his heart and passion were rooted in helping business owners with the important and personal decision to sell their business while guiding buyers through the acquisition process.

Mark is a graduate of Walsh University in Canton, Ohio. He began his career with Peat Marwick in Cleveland, Ohio and is a former CPA. He resides in Charlotte, North Carolina with his wife Angie and their six children.

Robert joins Viking Mergers & Acquisitions with 30+ years of business experience and a successful entrepreneurial career. At the age of 29, driven to build his own business, he left a prosperous career in hardware and software sales to start a distribution business in his garage supplying engineered parts to the OEM and MRO market. His vision was to bring high-quality engineered parts and technical services into niche markets and to raise the bar on the customer experience. After nearly 22 years of developing the people, the processes, and the strategies to grow, the business was acquired by a $4 billion global Swedish company on February 1, 2017.

Since that time, Robert has invested in multiple start-up companies and is an Advisory Council member and Board Observer with CoPeace, a Public Benefit Corporation / holding company focusing on Impact Investing / growth companies. Robert brings his entrepreneurial mindset to each discussion and is committed to putting his passion, energy, and experience to work for our clients.

Robert and his wife Susan have been married 31 years and live in South Charlotte. He has a B.A. in Business Management from NC State and is the youngest of five children from his family. They have two grown boys, one an NC State graduate and the other a University of South Carolina graduate. Robert enjoys playing golf, and tennis, traveling, and spending time with his family.

Merrell leads Viking Mergers and Acquisitions efforts in the Greenville / Spartanburg, Upstate South Carolina, Atlanta and North Georgia markets. Merrell comes to Viking with previous experience as a senior operating executive, entrepreneur, and private equity investor. He has broad operating experience ranging from his leadership of a $70 million HVAC distribution business for Carrier Corporation (a division of United Technologies Corporation) to his successful role as CEO of a $15 million private regional waste hauling business. As a private equity investor, Merrell led majority investments several companies including an $85 million environmental services business and a $40 million apparel manufacturer.

Earlier in his career, Merrell held corporate development roles in two technology startups – both of which successfully grew from venture funded startups to large public companies.

Merrell has a BA in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College and an MBA Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester in Rochester, NY.

Tripp Lawson grew up in a family of entrepreneurs spanning five generations of business owners. He began his career as a Financial Analyst working with the business valuation team while attending Florida State University. Tripp also spent time working with various Viking M&A offices throughout his time at Florida State University. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Finance and a Florida Real Estate License, Tripp decided to start his professional career in Florida working with his father in Viking’s Florida Division in 2017.

As a Partner, Tripp works closely with business owners, entrepreneurs, and their advisors to educate and develop a short- or long-term plan to either divest their business or purchase an existing business. Tripp’s dedication and experience in finance and real estate, combined with his business acumen allows him to understand the priorities of Viking clients and deliver exceptional results for them.

While attending Florida State University, Tripp was a student athlete and a member of the football team. Additionally, he held multiple leadership roles within Florida State University organizations. Tripp stays involved at Florida State University by mentoring students holding governing positions within the campus. Tripp has a passion to guide peers on life and business decisions to help those be successful.

Outside of the office, Tripp is an active boater and enjoys adventurous outdoor activities.

Kyle leads Viking’s efforts in the Nashville, Tennessee market. He joins the team with over 20 years of business development, finance, and operations experience from some of the most respected names in American business. Most recently, Kyle led the successful turnaround of GNC’s Canadian business unit. Prior to that, he held significant roles in operations and finance at Carrier Corporation and FedEx. This level of experience makes Kyle uniquely qualified to guide entrepreneurs across Tennessee with the most important financial transaction of their lives – selling their business.

Kyle Graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a BBA in Finance. After a short stint in the US Army, Kyle earned is International MBA from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. Kyle lives in Nashville with his wife and 4 children.

Dan Wilson comes to Viking with an extensive background in entrepreneurship and IT service and support as the previous owner and founder of Waypoint Solutions Group (rebranded and merged as Complete Network in 2017), a managed IT services provider located in North Carolina. Dan’s company held multiple awards as a five-time INC 5000 winner, an eight-time MSP501 winner (top MSP’s globally), as well as a three-time Charlotte Business Journal Fast 50 winner as one of the fastest growing companies in the Charlotte, NC area. Throughout his 16 years of entrepreneurship, Dan has experienced the facilitation and process of multiple merger and acquisition deals. His knowledge as a previous business owner gives him hands-on, firsthand experience in assisting other entrepreneurs in planning their exit strategies. Dan has seen the struggles and pitfalls surrounding the sale of a business, and he plans to make it his mission to guide and protect entrepreneurs in completing the single largest transaction of their lives.

Married for 17 years, Dan and his wife, Lynne, are the parents of three daughters. His hobbies outside of the office include sailing and cycling. From 1987-1998, Dan was a United States Air Force Active Duty, and is on the Board of Trustees for the Patriot Military Family Foundation, as well as a Board Member of the Adaptive Sports and Adventure Program (ASAP). He has also been a member of the Entrepreneurs Organization for 10 years, serving four years on the US East Regional Board, Local Chapter Board for eight years, and as President for two years. Dan hopes to bring professional and confidential representation to a segment of the Raleigh, NC market where it is hard to come by.

Jeff McKeehan, before joining Viking, enjoyed success as the President and Co-Owner of EHD Technologies, a nationally recognized and award-winning provider of technical and professional services. EHD Technologies was acquired in 2017 by Groupe CRIT SA (CEN.PA).

Prior to owning and operating EHD, Jeff served as a Vice-President of Business Operations with Aerotek Inc. Before Aerotek, Jeff had a successful career at TE Connectivity (formerly Tyco Electronics) as a Director of Manufacturing Operations where he led and managed several fully integrated advanced manufacturing facilities.

His expertise includes sales and operations planning, business strategy development, training, leadership, organizational development, operations management, talent acquisition, human resources, process improvement and quality systems management.

Jeff earned a BA in Business Administration from Belmont Abbey College and an MS in Organizational Management from Pfeiffer University. His post-graduate work includes Merger and Acquisition studies through Columbia Business School.

Jeff’s interests include teaching, mentoring, and the development of aspiring leaders. As a practitioner of organizational development, his passion is helping individuals and organizations transform, improve, and grow.

A lifelong resident of Western North Carolina, Jeff resides in Tryon, NC with his wife Tracy. He serves on UNC Asheville’s Department of Management and Accountancy board and is engaged in supporting entrepreneurs and business owners in the community.

Christian is a dual degree graduate from Florida State University in which he majored in Finance and Real Estate. Christian has also obtained his commercial real estate license.

Christians career includes working for a privately held company that was acquired by a publicly traded fortune 100 company while he was working with the finance team. Here he was exposed to the rigors of a large multinational corporations Corporate and SOCS Compliance regulations. He also worked closely with international contract negotiations, pricing, and worked heavily within purchasing.

Christian then advanced to a management position with the largest privately held and industry leading accounting & finance recruiting firm. He managed a team dedicated to meeting the needs of businesses across central Florida. Working closely with Executive Leadership teams of small to large businesses on mitigating risk, negotiating agreements, contracting billing and rates, handling payroll, workers compensations, labor costs, risk management, and employee welfare has provided Christian with the skill set that he utilizes to this day.

Christian realized that by providing his clients operational cost controls and clarity to make solid decisions resulted in positive impacts for each businesses earnings and ultimately their businesses enterprise value. This insight originally launched Christian into a Senior Advisor position within the Viking Mergers & Acquisitions team. Christian’s advancement within the firm has led him to his current role as Partner. His experience here at Viking includes facilitating transactions from inception to post closing and has facilitated transactions across various industries and enterprise values. Christian has found his true interest and has become dedicated to working with middle market businesses owners to further enhance their full cycle business operations and their development of financial progress which increases enterprise value providing for a more lucrative exit strategy.

Jackson spent the first 28 years of his life chasing his basketball dreams. After playing at The George Washington University and Christian Brothers University, he was a coach at the college level for six years. The competitiveness, leadership, and work ethic he learned in athletics have been differentiators for him in the business world as well.

After getting married, Jackson got into business with his father and brother at Rio Bravo Oilfield Services, where he quickly became CFO. This birthed a love for small business, as he developed the financial department from the ground up, sat on the Board of Directors, and touched every facet of the company. He went back to business school, receiving an Executive MBA from Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina in 2015.

After an exit event at Rio Bravo, he worked for a few years at a boutique investment bank, mainly focusing on due diligence of small businesses that were M&A targets. In 2018, Jackson moved his wife, a native Carolinian, back home and founded Wolcott Consulting, a fractional CFO and Exit planning firm.

With over 15 years of experience as a small business CFO as well as business owner, Jackson’s passion is serving entrepreneurs. He understands intimately what it’s like to sit in their seat, both from a professional and personal standpoint. And his goal is to help use this experience to help them achieve their goals.

Alan Misale has been working with entrepreneurs to facilitate successful exit strategies and business transactions for over 30 years. As a former owner of multiple businesses, Alan brings a host of comprehensive experience, clarity and understanding to the transaction process, from start to finish.

Alan has worked closely with business owners and executives to implement best practices that engage entire organizations to achieve the desired results. Alan’s career history as a business owner and corporate CFO has yielded a rare combination of operational and financial knowledge, specializing on service and distribution organizations. In addition to his notable business acumen, Alan served in the United States Army.

Coleman is the co-leader of Viking’s Houston office, along with his brother, Jackson. Over the course of his 17+ year career, Coleman has led over $100 billion in M&A transactions, most recently with Deloitte Consulting’s M&A practice. His extensive experience across the industry—serving as a sell-side advisor, buy-side advisor, buyer and seller—gives him a unique perspective that helps drive successful outcomes for his clients. 

Coleman brings the expertise and sophistication of big-firm M&A transactions to the world of small business owners. Recognizing the distinct challenges faced by these entrepreneurs, Coleman leverages his breadth and depth of experience to tailor his approach to each client’s specific needs, providing personalized guidance and employing creative strategies to maximize value and achieve their objectives.

Prior to Deloitte, Coleman and Jackson helped build and sell their family business, Rio Bravo Oilfield Services. Coleman holds an undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Oklahoma and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. He and his wife, April, live in The Woodlands, TX, with their two kids and two dogs.

A native of Richmond, VA, Knight graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Hampden-Sydney College. He spent a year as an assistant football coach at Emory & Henry College before entering the corporate world.

Mr. Knight spent 20 years in the consumer products industry, working for a Fortune 100 company in sales and marketing. He started in an entry level position, and advanced through the organization to become Vice President of Sales where he was responsible for $750 million in annual revenue.

Next, Knight became Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing for a small rigid packaging company in Los Angeles, where he led a once struggling company to grow from $27 million to $100 million in annual revenue in less than four years. However, the desire to own his own company caused Mr. Knight to research small companies for sale, particularly those located in the Southeast so he and his family could get back closer to their roots.

In 2007, working with Viking Mergers & Acquisitions, he acquired FASTSIGNS South Tryon located in Charlotte, NC. Next he acquired two additional locations for this franchise; Rock Hill, SC in 2009, and Matthews/Ballantyne in Charlotte in 2012. Through Knight’s leadership, he grew these locations to become one of the highest revenue generating groups of centers world-wide in the FASTSIGNS International franchise system.

Successfully selling these three centers in 2017, Knight decided to join with Viking Mergers & Acquisitions by opening a new location for them in Charleston, SC. As Managing Partner, he will help business owners and/or investors sell or buy a business in Berkeley, Charleston and Dorchester counties.

Eric McKeehan comes to Viking M&A as a seasoned veteran of small business administration, financial management, sales, marketing and strategic planning. He holds an MBA from Wingate University, along with a BA in Political Science from the University of South Carolina. During his undergraduate years, he served in the United States Marine Corps and deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

After returning home and finishing his bachelor’s degree, Eric began his career in business-to-business sales and marketing with a rapidly growing wholesale distribution business in Asheville, NC. It is here that Eric developed a passion for working with small businesses and entrepreneurs. As a Business Development Manager, he came to appreciate the challenges that small businesses face by interfacing with thousands of brick and mortar retailers nationwide.

Upon earning his MBA, Eric jumped right back into the fight, turning down lucrative opportunities with public corporations in favor of the excitement and challenge of small business growth by joining a manufacturing start-up in Hendersonville, NC. Here he took on a variety of roles, serving as both the Controller and Business Development Manager. During his tenure, the company saw an exponential growth in revenue and penetration into new market segments. Eric later moved on to a small cut-and-sew operation, Diamond Brand Gear in Asheville, and eventually made his way into the retail segment with Diamond Brand Outdoors as Controller.

Eric lives by the philosophy and values learned through a decade of working with small to mid-size businesses. His hands-on experience and education have allowed him to develop a well-rounded skill-set and fundamental understanding of the “big picture” that owners and executive management contend with.

His primary mission with Viking is to help business owners navigate one of the most important decisions in their lives: selling their business. Eric works with integrity, professionalism, and compassion throughout the process, ensuring that each client has an opportunity to achieve their desired outcome.