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A Wish Come True for Death Wish Coffee: Schwartz Heslin Group Leads Way to Strategic Investment

The idea had been brewing in Mike Brown’s mind for some time. The Creator and CEO of Death Wish Coffee (DWC) — the “World’s Strongest Coffee” and 2016 Super Bowl commercial darling — had led his nine-year-old company to phenomenal nationwide growth. Now he’d decided the time was right to seek the strategic outside investment necessary to take DWC to the next level. 


Over Saturday lunch in an upstate New York gastropub, Mike presented the idea to confidant and advisor Cory Martin of business advisory firm Schwartz Heslin Group (SHG) and asked him to find the right investor. 


Nine weeks later — an unheard-of time frame for consummating these types of deals — DWC finalized its investment partnership with TA Associates, one of the world’s largest and most experienced global growth private equity firms.


“One of the top three most important relationships I’ve developed since founding Death Wish Coffee Company has been with Cory and SHG,” Mike says. 


The two men had spent countless hours together over the previous three years discussing DWC’s valuation, growth trajectory and strategic planning, but that Saturday afternoon was the first time Mike had expressed any appetite for seeking outside investment. Cory agreed immediately that the time was right. If Mike was ready, so was SHG. 



Strategic Process Accelerates Success

 

Much as a great cup of coffee begins with the freshest beans and best grind, SHG believes finding the right strategic partnership starts with a highly selective prospect list. 

 

“We have a very controlled process that begins with how we identify prospective investors,” Cory says. “We go through an extensive evaluation incorporating our industry knowledge along with new research to determine prospects’ appetite for investment, levels of past investment, and other pertinent factors, and then rank them qualitatively and quantitively. We need to know they have a high probability of interest before we approach them.”

 

“Some firms start with a list of 200 to 300 names, send out information and see what sticks,” Cory adds. “That’s a recipe for disaster. It’s time-consuming and it doesn’t work. By being highly selective at the start, you can accelerate the process of finding the right partner.”

 

“Having zero experience in in this type of investment partnership to that point, I was quickly brought up to speed by SHG,” Mike says. “Cory said he was confident in his process, and he started executing immediately. Within days, SHG had about 25 targets, and then we narrowed that down to four just days later. Within a week, we were interviewing potential partners, and we had chosen TA shortly after. That was accomplished in two weeks, and now we had eight weeks to get the deal done.

 

“Cory put together a team of dedicated accountants, lawyers, and financial professionals to get the deal executed. It was intense, but Cory and his team were very organized and on top of everything we needed to do. With him leading, we got the job done in the time frame that was agreed upon.”


Focused on the Things That Mattered Most

 

DWC’s new partner, TA Associates, has invested more than $30 billion in more than 550 businesses worldwide over its 50-year history. Managing Director Bill Christ was the firm’s lead on the investment.

 

“Cory and the team at SHG were the type of people and advisors with whom we love to work: transparent, efficient, practical and focused on the things that mattered most to the deal,” Bill says. “They were able to work a very small Death Wish team to extract, process and provide us with accurate and detailed information that helped get a transaction over the finish line in an incredibly short window.”

 

Back at DWC’s headquarters in historic Saratoga Springs, NY, Mike Brown is looking forward to the next exciting chapter in a storybook tale that has seen the company evolve from a what-the-heck idea in the mind of a struggling coffee shop owner (“Hey, let’s make the strongest cup of coffee we can”) to a fan-crazed brand (some would say “movement”) with appearances on Good Morning America, the Super Bowl and the International Space Station. Yeah, he’s had some pretty big moments, but that nine-week period in the summer of 2021 is right up there.

 

“I’ll forever be impressed with SHG and the people they brought together to execute at a high level,” he says. “I highly recommend SHG’s services to any business. Even if taking on an investment isn’t in your plans, the value provided by them will help you focus on building a great company and give a lot of value to your customers.”



To learn more about SHG’s strategic business advisory, investment banking or valuation services, please call us at (518) 786-7733 or visit shggroup.com.

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