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MBF GROUP · Established 2009

A boutique investment bank built for the deals the bulge brackets delegate.

MBF Group was founded in 2009 on a single conviction: that mid-market transactions deserve the same senior attention, process discipline, and counterparty access as the largest mandates in the market — without the layering, the politics, or the distraction.

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NEW YORK  ·  CHICAGO  ·  FRANKFURT

THE FOUNDING THESIS

Built in 2009. Built for operators, not institutions.

I. The Problem

By the late 2000s, the mid-market had become an afterthought. Founder-led companies in the $20M to $500M EBITDA range — the firms that actually moved the productive economy — were being routed through associate-laden processes engineered for billion-dollar mandates. Senior bankers would pitch the deal, hand the work to a director, who would hand the work to a vice president, who would hand the work to an analyst. The founder rarely spoke with the person who pitched the firm.

II. The Response

MBF Group opened a single office on Madison Avenue in 2009 with three partners and an explicit operating rule: the managing director who pitches a mandate is the managing director who runs the process and negotiates the final terms. Fifteen years later, the rule has not changed. We have grown to 34 professionals across New York, Chicago, and Frankfurt — and we have refused, by design, to grow beyond it.

III. The Operating Philosophy

Three disciplines govern every engagement: senior-partner-led, meaning the MD owns the file end to end; no junior layering, meaning 87% of deal hours are billed by directors or partners; and process rigor, meaning each mandate runs on a documented workplan, a weekly operating review, and a dedicated partner-level negotiation cadence. Boutique discipline is not a marketing line — it is the only way to clear transactions at a 4.7-month average close cycle.

THE PARTNERS

The people who will actually run your mandate.

Four partners lead every client engagement at MBF Group. Each has spent at least fifteen years inside an operating role, a bulge-bracket bank, or both. We list them by name because founders sell to people — and you should know who is on the other end of the line.

Portrait of Marcus Bell-Feuring, Managing Partner

Managing Partner & Founder

Marcus Bell-Feuring

Formerly: Goldman, Sachs & Co. (M&A); Founder, Crossline Industrial (acquired 2011).

Marcus founded MBF Group in 2009 after fifteen years on the Goldman M&A desk and one operating stint building a specialty manufacturer. He leads the firm's largest sell-side mandates and personally chairs every transaction committee. He has closed more than 60 mid-market transactions, with a focus on industrial technology, business services, and consumer products.

MBA, Wharton. BA, Princeton.

Portrait of Anjali Hartwell, Senior Managing Director

Senior Managing Director, Healthcare & Life Sciences

Anjali Hartwell

Formerly: Lazard (Healthcare M&A); COO, NorthBay Medical Group.

Anjali leads the firm's healthcare and life sciences practice. She joined MBF Group in 2012 after eight years at Lazard's healthcare group and four years as the chief operating officer of a regional medical group she helped take private. She has advised on 34 healthcare transactions and writes the firm's annual healthcare M&A outlook.

MD, Johns Hopkins. MBA, INSEAD.

Portrait of Dr. Christoph Linder, Senior Managing Director

Senior Managing Director, Frankfurt & European Cross-Border

Dr. Christoph Linder

Formerly: McKinsey & Company (Strategy, Frankfurt); Lincoln International.

Christoph opened the Frankfurt office in 2014 to anchor the firm's transatlantic practice for European acquirers and U.S.-based founders seeking European buyers. His practice is concentrated in industrials, automotive supply, and engineered components. He speaks fluent German, English, and French, and has closed 28 cross-border deals since joining the firm.

Dr. rer. pol., University of Cologne. MBA, Kellogg.

Portrait of Naomi Kessler, Managing Director

Managing Director, Chicago & Sponsor Coverage

Naomi Kessler

Formerly: Lazard (M&A); Vice President, GTCR LLC.

Naomi leads the Chicago office and the firm's sponsor coverage practice. She joined in 2016 from Lazard and previously spent five years in private equity at GTCR, which informs her perspective on the buy-side process. Her recent mandates include carve-outs, sponsor-to-sponsor transactions, and recapitalizations in business and tech-enabled services.

MBA, Booth. AB, Dartmouth.

OFFICES

Three offices. One operating partnership.

Our footprint is deliberately small. Each office is staffed by senior professionals with operating networks in its market — and every office operates under the same engagement standards, transaction committees, and confidentiality protocols.

HEADQUARTERS

New York

667 Madison Avenue, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10065

+1 (212) 555-0144

Founded here in 2009. Houses the firm's senior transaction committee, healthcare and industrials practices, and the central MBF Buyer Atlas database.

MIDWEST

Chicago

300 North LaSalle, 18th Floor
Chicago, IL 60654

+1 (312) 555-0177

Opened in 2016. Anchors sponsor coverage and the firm's business-services practice. Convenient for founder-led operators based in the U.S. Midwest and Mountain West.

EUROPE

Frankfurt

Bockenheimer Landstraße 24
60323 Frankfurt am Main

+49 (0) 69 555 0192

Opened in 2014. Manages inbound European acquirer interest for U.S. founders and supports European founders pursuing transatlantic buyers or recapitalizations.

Map showing the firm's three offices across the North Atlantic
New York · Chicago · Frankfurt — transatlantic execution for mid-market operators.

BY THE NUMBERS

Fifteen years of mid-market execution, quantified.

140+

Closed transactions since 2009

Sell-side, buy-side, and recapitalization mandates completed across eleven industries.

4.7mo

Average mandate to signing

Roughly 38% faster than the comparable bulge-bracket benchmark for deals of similar size.

$186M

Average enterprise value per closed transaction

Aggregate deal value in 2024 exceeded $3.1B across 22 closed mandates.

92%

Close rate on accepted mandates, last five fiscal years

Compared to an industry average of approximately 55% over the same window.

#7

2024 Refinitiv Mid-Market M&A League Table

Ranked by deal count for transactions between $50M and $500M enterprise value.

47,000+

Qualified buyers in the MBF Buyer Atlas

Proprietary database of strategic acquirers, financial sponsors, and family offices.

34

Investment professionals across three offices

Twenty-one are former operators or former investment professionals from Goldman, Lazard, and McKinsey.

2,300+

Qualified buyer introductions per mandate

Average across sell-side processes, drawn from the proprietary MBF Buyer Atlas database.

Member of FINRA (CRD #168452) and SIPC. Registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Confidential client mandates are not named in compliance with our engagement terms.

A mid-market founder does not need more bodies in the room. They need a single partner who has seen the deal before, who will pick up the phone at midnight, and who will still be at the closing table when the term sheet becomes a signature.

Marcus Bell-Feuring · Managing Partner & Founder