Park Sutton Advisors, a Waller Helms Company (“Park Sutton”) is pleased to have represented MDK Private Wealth Management (“MDK”) on its sale to Mercer Global Advisors, Inc. (“Mercer Advisors”), a national RIA with more than $56 billion in client assets. Founded in 2020 by Co-Founders Paul Meyer, Jaimi Dennehy, and Chris Kalafatis and complemented by a highly qualified team of professionals serving its Ultra High Net Worth (“UHNW”) clientele, MDK is a Seattle based comprehensive wealth management firm with assets under supervision of more than $2.5 billion. MDK offers a full range of family office services including financial planning, investment management, trust and estate planning, private banking and lending, tax planning, private aviation and boat advisory, and executive planning. MDK leads with a goals-based planning approach and acts as the “financial quarterback” for all its client’s assets and specializes in working with executive clients with regards to executive compensation planning and 10b5-1 plans.
Commenting on the transaction, Chris Kalafatis stated: “Together with my Co-Founders Jaimi Dennehy and Paul Meyer, we have built a white glove multi-family office designed to serve our UHNW clients with exceptional umbrella care. While we have done that, we also wanted to build out our scale creating a platform for institutional and unending care.” Jaimi Dennehy added: “Knowing this, we were faced with the decision of whether to build this platform or determine if one existed that was aligned with our vision of what a national family office offering could be. After an exhaustive search, we chose to partner with Mercer Advisors, a national family wealth office that provides estate planning, tax consulting and return preparation, corporate trustee, and ERISA plan services all in-house led by subject matter experts.”
David Barton, Vice Chairman, who led the acquisition of MDK on behalf of Mercer Advisors stated: “Jaimi, Paul, and Chris have built an exceptional UHNW practice, they are performing unique services not easily found or offered. They bolster our family office team and capabilities and, likewise, we add value to their business. We are both complementary and compatible, bedrock for a successful relationship.”
The transaction was co-led by Steven Levitt and Louis Trimble, CFA of Park Sutton Advisors, a Waller Helms Company. Steven Levitt, Senior Managing Director, said, “Paul, Chris and Jaimi bring a wealth of experience in catering to the financial needs of UHNW clientele. We continue to see a premium placed on firms that lead with a goals-based planning approach and offer a more comprehensive offering tailored to the diverse needs of the UHNW clients.” Louis Trimble, Managing Director, added, “MDK has an incredible young and talented team with long runways, and we hope to see them play a big part in expanding Mercer’s family office services in the Pacific Northwest and beyond.” This is Park Sutton’s second deal in the Pacific Northwest in the last three months as acquirers continue to expand into attractive markets.