Fire Pit Capital

Mark Murray leads the firm. He is a private equity veteran who previously built an energy and industrial services focused buyout firm and ran the strategic investing platform at Dominion Energy (NYSE: D). An attorney and CPA by training, he sits on boards of four operating businesses from his prior firm.

The firm does not operate a conventional blind-pool fund. It pools committed capital from a select group of Southeastern family offices and deploys it on a deal-by-deal basis. Each acquisition is done directly, giving investors line‑of‑sight into the asset rather than passive fund exposure.

It pursues buyout and succession transactions in small, durable businesses in the Southeast, with a focus on industrial services and niche manufacturing. The firm seeks ownership transitions where retiring founders can exit and existing management teams stay in place to continue running the business.

The firm’s stated mandate is to keep Southeastern capital in the Southeast. Its disclosed portfolio companies — American Metal Technology of Tennessee and Sciath Security — are both headquartered and operated from Southeastern or multi‑state bases that include the region. No non‑Southeast investments are publicly cited.

Sourcing flows through Mark Murray’s network as a former energy-focused buyout founder and Dominion Energy strategic investor, combined with the relationships of the family offices that back the platform. The firm states it considers creative structures for ownership transitions and growth capital, including partnering with intermediaries and business owners directly.

No — unlike strategic acquirers or many buyout firms, Fire Pit Capital states a strong preference for keeping existing management teams intact when a retiring owner exits. The firm positions itself as a long‑term partner that provides patient capital and governance rather than replacing operators.

The family offices are not passive limited partners in a fund; they are investors who receive active involvement in deals. Mark Murray describes a collaborative model where investors can influence the direction of the businesses, comparing the structure to a platform for direct investment that avoids the detachment of a blind pool.