Empire Investment Holdings

Empire Investment Holdings

Empire Investment Holdings, founded by David F. Alfonso, is structured as a family office with a private equity operating model. The firm does not manage a diversified portfolio or raise outside funds; it seeks to acquire and indefinitely hold a single industrial company. Alfonso serves as Chairman and CEO, partnered by Dennis M. Mahoney, in a team the firm describes as having decades of hands-on industrial sector experience. The strategy is a permanent-capital buyout with an operational twist. Empire targets mature B2B industrial companies headquartered in the US or UK with global operations, at least $35 million in revenue, and enterprise values up to $50 million. The firm invests its own capital and embeds its operating partners inside the acquired company to run it. This is not a fund with a fixed life—the holding period is intended to be perpetual. The firm's leaders claim involvement in over 60 closed investments across their careers, with a focus on manufacturing, distribution, and industrial services. Empire maintains a deliberately lean structure with no disclosed office locations beyond its Miami headquarters. The principals present themselves as both investors and operators, able to step into leadership roles at the acquired company. The firm does not publicly report assets under management or total capital deployed. Empire's investment criteria specify an EBITDA ceiling of $5 million, suggesting a deliberate focus on lower-middle-market companies that larger private equity firms often overlook. Empire's structural differentiator is the fusion of a family office's permanent timeline with an operating partner model typically found in specialized private equity firms. The principals don't just buy the company; they run it. This creates an indefinite alignment of ownership and management, distinct from both traditional private equity—which must exit—and passive family office investing.