A diverse lower middle market, a strong base of privately held businesses, and growing succession needs made Philadelphia a natural place for Viking to deepen its Mid-Atlantic presence. Geoff Veale is building the office around that reality.
When Viking Mergers & Acquisitions expanded into Philadelphia earlier this year, the move was about more than geography.
It was a step into a market that closely matches the kind of businesses Viking serves best: founder-led, family-owned, and privately held companies navigating growth, succession, and eventual transition. In the greater Philadelphia region, those businesses are everywhere. So are the questions that come with building value, planning ahead, and preparing for a sale long before one is imminent.
Why Philadelphia was more than a geographic expansion
Philadelphia made sense not simply because it extended the map northward, but because it added a market with the right size, business mix, and concentration of privately held companies.
The firm had already grown north from the Southeast into Baltimore and Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia extends that Mid-Atlantic presence into a large, strategically connected market that also serves South Jersey and Northern Delaware. Just as important, it places the office in a region where Managing Partner Geoff Veale can pair local knowledge with support from nearby markets and a broader advisory network.
“From a geography and personnel perspective, the Philadelphia Metro Area makes a lot of sense,” Geoff said. “With Rob Flack in Baltimore, Mark Ajamian in D.C., and even Dan Wilson in Richmond, I’ve got other Viking offices that are very close, so I’m joining an already strong team in the mid-Atlantic region rather than having to build a team right from the start.”
That regional connectivity matters for business owners. In the lower middle market, sellers often want an advisor who understands the local business environment but can also bring a broader market perspective, buyer relationships, and transaction experience.
Why experience and infrastructure matter in this market
As Managing Partner of Viking’s Philadelphia office, Geoff brings more than 25 years of experience across private equity, investment banking, operations, and direct investment in family-owned businesses. His background includes founding Outrider Capital Partners, serving on the Investment Committee at Milestone Partners, and holding earlier roles with Jefferies Capital Partners and J.P. Morgan Securities.
But in joining Viking, he wasn’t simply looking for a platform. He was looking for a model that matched how he wanted to serve business owners.
“First of all, it was the people,” he said. “At this point in my career, I was looking to join a firm where I like the people, and everyone works together in a cooperative and supportive manner.”
That stood out. In an industry that can feel highly transactional and internally competitive, he saw a culture built around collaboration, shared knowledge, and long-term relationships. He also saw the support structure needed to stay focused on the work that matters most: advising owners, building trust, and helping companies think through major decisions.
“It’s the best of both worlds,” he said. “The model is set up so I can really focus on the clients, the people owning and running their companies, and advising them on transactions, which is where my expertise really is.”
A market built for lower-middle-market advisory work
Philadelphia is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the country, but size alone is not what makes it compelling. What matters is the type and range of businesses operating there.
“It’s a huge market for Viking in terms of the types of companies that are here, given our focus on founder- and family-owned businesses,” Geoff said.
Unlike markets dominated by one sector, Philadelphia offers broad economic diversity. Healthcare and biotech remain major pillars. Technology continues to grow, supported by the region’s concentration of colleges, universities, and graduate programs. At the same time, the market includes a large number of long-established family businesses, along with companies in manufacturing, services, transportation, warehousing, and logistics.
“It’s a very diverse business region,” Geoff said. “And that diversity makes the market especially well-suited to lower-middle-market advisory work, where no two ownership stories look exactly alike.”
Two sides of the Philadelphia business landscape
Part of what makes Philadelphia stand out is that it contains two very different but equally important business stories.
On one side are younger, growth-oriented companies that may eventually need guidance around scaling, value creation, and a future exit. On the other are long-established family and privately held businesses facing succession questions, ownership transitions, or the reality that the next generation may not want to take over.
“There are so many older, legacy businesses with multi-generational ownership,” Geoff said. “But the next generation does not always want to take over the family business. I enjoy working with companies to navigate these issues and help them find the right new owner that protects their company’s legacy.”
He sees both sides of that market as important for Philadelphia.
“You have the younger, more growth-oriented part of the market, and then you also have the more established, old economy type businesses,” he said.
That range includes everything from newer technology and healthcare businesses to long-established companies in manufacturing, transportation, and logistics. It gives the Philadelphia office the chance to serve owners across a wide span of industries and transition stages.
Building a local office around relationships
Geoff’s vision for the Philadelphia office reflects the character of the Philadelphia market itself.
He is not simply trying to establish a presence and wait for transactions to come in. He is building a local advisory practice designed to serve business owners across southeastern Pennsylvania, South Jersey, and Northern Delaware for the long haul. That means relationships first, local coverage, and eventually a team structure that can grow with the market.
In the near term, Geoff sees room to add senior advisors and support staff to better cover a broad geography and serve companies more effectively. The idea is not growth for growth’s sake. It is growth in better service of the market.
Why face-to-face still matters in the lower middle market
For Geoff, local presence is practical, not symbolic.
“It’s really critical to be able to go meet with people face to face, shake hands, have lunch, and see their facilities,” he said.
That gets at something easy to miss in M&A coverage. Lower-middle-market transactions are not abstract financial exercises. For many founders, especially in family-owned or long-held businesses, a sale touches legacy, employees, relationships, and identity. Owners want to work with advisors who understand the business in context, not just on paper.
That is part of how the Philadelphia office is positioning itself: not as distant dealmakers, but as long-term advisors in a market where trust still drives important decisions.
Early traction and room to grow
In the first few months, much of Geoff’s time has gone toward networking, educating the market, and building relationships across the local business and advisory communities. One encouraging sign has been the level of awareness Viking already has among buyers in the region.
“I’ve been pleased to see that people are more aware of Viking than I thought,” he said. “A lot of the buyer community in Philadelphia has heard of Viking.”
That gives the office a useful starting point. But Geoff has also been clear that seller-side and advisor-side education remain major opportunities. Many business owners and local professionals do not yet know the firm’s approach, how it differs from more transactional models, or how early the right advisory conversations should begin.
Why the local advisory network matters
That is one reason Geoff is spending significant time building relationships not only with owners, but also with attorneys, CPAs, consultants, wealth management professionals, and other advisors who often influence how and when a business begins preparing for transition.
Those relationships are not peripheral. In the lower middle market, they often shape whether a company enters a process prepared or under pressure. A stronger advisory network can help owners improve reporting, think more strategically about structure and timing, and put themselves in a better position long before a sale is on the table.
A trusted advisor mindset
What Geoff hopes will distinguish the Philadelphia office is not just experience. It’s mindset.
“My primary objective is to become a trusted advisor or partner with the small business owner in Philadelphia,” he said.
That means starting with the owner’s real situation rather than leading with a pitch.
“I’m always leading with, ‘How can I help you?’ ‘What are the challenges you are facing?’ ‘Where are you in your business life cycle?’” Geoff said.
In some cases, that may mean helping a company prepare for a sale in the near term. In others, it may lead to operational improvements, better financial readiness, stronger positioning, or introductions to other advisors who can help the business grow. That longer view is central to how Geoff sees the role and how he wants to build in the region.
“Being a trusted advisor to the business owner is really the ultimate goal. To help the business owner build a more valuable business regardless of their intention to sell.”
Why that approach fits this market
That philosophy fits the realities of Philadelphia particularly well. Many founders are not ready to sell today, but they still need guidance. They may need to improve reporting, reduce owner dependence, strengthen management, or start thinking about succession years earlier than they expected. They may simply need a more honest view of what buyers will eventually care about.
That’s where Geoff’s experience and the firm’s infrastructure come together. The market needs relationship-driven, preparation-focused advice. This setup gives him the platform to deliver it with local presence and broader regional support behind it.
The right fit at the right time
Philadelphia is not compelling because it is a new territory. It is compelling because it is full of the kinds of businesses that need this kind of advice.
It has scale, sector diversity, a large base of privately held companies, and a meaningful mix of growth businesses and long-established companies facing transition. It is a market where preparation matters, relationships matter, and owners often benefit from experienced guidance long before a transaction begins.
That is what made Philadelphia the right next market for Viking.
And that is what makes Geoff Veale the right person to help build the office around it.
For founders and privately held business owners across the greater Philadelphia region, that combination may matter most of all: a market ready for deeper advisory support, a firm with the platform to provide it, and a local leader focused on helping owners before they are under pressure to make a deal.