Palmares Capital Partners

All three co-founders — Andy Mason, Stephen Griner, and Patrick Ungashik — serve as Partners and collectively manage the firm's investment activities. The published team page lists no other investment professionals, suggesting a flat partnership structure where sourcing, diligence, and portfolio oversight are shared across the three principals. Their backgrounds are not detailed on the firm's website.

Palmares operates as an asset manager pursuing a private equity strategy, but it explicitly rejects the traditional buyout model. The firm only makes non-control, minority equity investments, retaining the original ownership group's board-level governance. This structure places Palmares in a distinct category — closer to a permanent capital provider or structured equity fund — rather than a conventional commingled private equity fund.

Palmares does not publicly describe a specific sourcing model, but its investment criteria — founder- and family-owned companies where the owner does not intend a near-term sale — naturally limits deal flow to relationship-based origination. The absence of a broad public track record or portfolio roster suggests the firm relies on founder referrals, professional networks, and intermediary relationships rather than broad auction participation.

Palmares uses preferred stock to make investments, which it states provides maximum liquidity to the business owner while minimizing equity dilution. The firm's non-control posture means decisions are made at the board level by consensus, rather than being controlled by a majority equity holder. This preferred-equity approach allows the original owners to retain common equity and operational control.

Palmares is industry-agnostic, focusing instead on the relationship dynamics and objectives of the transaction. The firm requires a minimum trailing EBITDA of $4 million, with a typical range up to $15 million, and writes equity checks of $5 million to $25 million. Target companies must be founder- or family-owned, and the owner must desire an equity partner without planning an imminent exit.

Yes, but in a collaborative, board-level capacity rather than as a controlling shareholder. The firm lists support areas including strategic planning, acquisition strategy development, business development, financial systems selection and implementation, personnel recruitment, and access to additional debt and equity capital. This support is offered as a resource to management, not as a mandated operating partner model.

Palmares does not publicly address co-investor participation. Given its focus on non-control, structured preferred equity — rather than majority buyouts — external general partners are not a natural fit for its governance model. The firm's investments are structured to meet individual business owner objectives, which may limit the scalability of co-investment syndication.