NEW ORLEANS – This year, Chaffe & Associates celebrates its 40th anniversary. With clients across the South, the company focuses on valuations, mergers and acquisition advisory services with an emphasis on founder-led companies, family-owned businesses, banks and other financial institutions.
The company’s founder and Chairman, D. B. H. “Black” Chaffe, started the firm in 1982 with one employee. Today it has a staff of 18. Five have been part of the team for more than 20 years.
Chaffe leadership includes Vanessa Brown Claiborne, president and CEO; Sherwood “Woody” Briggs, vice chairman; G. F. Gay Le Breton, managing director and president of Chaffe Securities; and Frank de Vay, managing director.
“The enduring relationships we enjoy with our clients spring from the company’s unswerving commitment to a particular set of principles,” said Black. “We stress client confidentiality, long-term relationships, attention to detail, and highly tailored, personal services. We are humbled to celebrate 40 years in business.”
“Our aim is to be the gold standard for valuations,” said Claiborne. “That’s why clients come to us. Chaffe has earned its reputation as a resource for valuations across numerous industries, expanding beyond estate, gift and income tax planning and reporting to valuation of intangible assets and purchase price allocations.”
Reflecting on its mergers and acquisition practice, Le Breton said, “We are fortunate to have produced so many successful transactions for founder- and family-owned sellers. A sample of recent deals includes Performance Food Group’s purchase of Hattiesburg-based Merchants Foodservice; Water Street Capital’s investment of growth capital into Southern Scripts, a Natchitoches-headquartered company; and Insulations Incorporated’s sale to KLH Capital with corporate headquarters in Harahan, La.”
“Chaffe’s mergers and acquisition practice has prospered because we listen to business owners to understand their goals,” said DeVay. “Our goal is to lead transactions that exceed our clients’ expectations and create value at superior deal terms.”
Investment banking services are provided by Chaffe Securities Inc., member FINRA/SIPC.
