John Hill, Managing Partner, Hyde Park Capital

In an interview with Invest:, John Hill, managing partner at Hyde Park Capital, highlighted the firm’s award-winning M&A work, including the recent sale of Pinnacle Home Care and AccuHealth. He emphasized plans to double the team of 25 bankers in the next three years to continue growth in the healthcare, technology, and industrial services sectors, while maintaining a community-focused and client-centered culture.

What does recent recognition mean for the firm, and how do you plan to build on this success?

It’s exciting for us, as we’ve been focusing more on third-party validation and receiving recognition for our accomplishments and awards in recent years. The M&A Advisory Awards recently recognized us with 11 nominations, including winning the top honor for M&A Deal of the Year for transactions valued between $250 million and $500 million. This award was for one of our larger transactions, reflecting our outstanding work in the lower middle market, which ranges from $20 million to $500 million in deal size.

We also recently won the Healthcare Deal of the Year award from the M&A Atlas Awards for our role in the sale of Pinnacle Home Care, Florida’s largest individually owned home healthcare provider. This company has a workforce of over 2,500 people, including 1,500 skilled nurses. Additionally, we’re being recognized for a healthcare technology deal involving AccuHealth, a remote patient monitoring company we sold to Sunstone Partners, a private equity firm in San Francisco. These recognitions highlight the meaningful quality transactions we’ve executed and the continued growth of the firm.

How does your expertise in healthcare M&A help you navigate challenges and capitalize on opportunities?

Healthcare is one of our key focus areas, alongside technology, industrial and business services, and consumer sectors. Within healthcare, we’re active in verticals like physician practice management, where specialties such as orthopedics, cardiology, and dermatology are consolidating with private equity.

We’ve been involved in several significant orthopedic practice transactions across the United States. In the home healthcare space, the Pinnacle transaction was one of the year’s standout deals. We also work on medical devices, healthcare services, and healthcare technology. For instance, we recently represented a $150 million medical device company and facilitated the sale of software and consulting models for payers and providers.

Even in a softer M&A market, healthcare has remained robust, and we’re optimistic about further activity as the market cycles back up in the next couple of years.

What opportunities do you see for Hyde Park Capital in the healthcare sector?

Healthcare will remain a growth area, and we’re actively building our team to support that. Currently, we have 25 bankers, but we aim to double that number within three years. Our expansion includes hiring senior bankers in Tampa, as well as in our other offices in Nashville and San Francisco.

Tampa will remain our hub, but from here, we handle deals nationwide. Beyond healthcare, we see strong opportunities in technology, particularly in software and tech-enabled services. Fintech, for example, is beginning to rebound, especially in the payment processing space.

In industrial and business services, we’re active in specialized manufacturing and building products, facilities management services, and the blue collar residential and commercial trades that are all actively consolidating. Tech-enabled business service models are also a growing area. While consumer markets are slower, there’s still activity, but our focus will be on healthcare, technology, and business services as the key growth drivers.

How is Hyde Park adapting its strategies to better serve middle-market clients?

Hyde Park has been around for 25 years since 2000, and we’ve established ourselves as Florida’s largest and most well-known boutique investment bank. Our brand and reach are national, and we remain deeply connected within the M&A ecosystem, engaging with private equity firms, attorneys, accountants, wealth managers, and more, across the country.

Historically, we’ve focused on sell-side transactions for founder- and family-owned businesses. However, we’re increasingly representing institutional owners, including private equity funds looking to sell their portfolio companies. This shift aligns with our growth strategy as we expand our team with senior bankers experienced in these types of transactions.

Our core business remains founder- and family-owned companies, which often require more tailored support due to their unique challenges. These businesses are meaningful to their owners, many of whom have spent generations building them. Helping them achieve an optimal outcome is at the heart of what we do, and it’s where our expertise and integrity shine.

Inflation and high interest rates have affected both consumers and businesses. How has Hyde Park adapted its strategy in response?

Rising interest rates have been a significant factor in the softer M&A market over the past year. Higher borrowing costs make leveraged buyouts more expensive, which often results in lower deal valuations and less activity overall.

That said, although the capital markets are more challenging than we expected so far in 2025,  we’re optimistic about 2025. Interest rates hopefully will decline in the second half of the year,  Lower rates will reduce financing costs, making deals more viable and boosting valuations.

Additionally, a pro-business environment — less regulation, lower taxes, and other supportive policies — should encourage both sellers and buyers to reenter the market. Private equity firms have been cautious about selling, but we anticipate a wave of pent-up supply hitting the market as conditions improve. This should drive higher activity levels and better outcomes across the board.

How does Hyde Park’s expertise and reputation support its continued success?

Our approach centers on three core principles: expertise, integrity, and results. We bring deep knowledge to every transaction, operate with honesty and transparency, and focus on delivering meaningful outcomes.

In the last 12 months, we’ve closed 16 deals totaling over $1.2 billion. These include transactions across various deal sizes, from $25 million to $400 million. We’ve had a record year for three consecutive years, and we’re committed to maintaining that momentum. While our work speaks for itself, the recognition we’ve received, like recent awards and nominations, helps tell our story and reinforces the impact we’re making in the market.

How is Hyde Park leveraging technology to enhance customer experience and streamline operations?

We’ve invested heavily in technology to ensure we operate as effectively as larger national firms. For example, our CRM system, DealCloud, is state-of-the-art. It allows us to capture and manage data for well-organized sell-side processes and provides clients with detailed insights.

Additionally, we’ve embraced digital marketing tools like email campaigns, LinkedIn, and social media to enhance outreach. We even have a dedicated business development team that focuses solely on generating new opportunities while our bankers execute deals. This is critical in our business model, where every deal we close means a client we no longer have, so maintaining a robust pipeline is essential to our growth.

Can you share examples of Hyde Park’s community initiatives in Tampa Bay?

Giving back is a core part of who we are. Every quarter, we participate in charitable activities as a team. For example, next week, we’ll be volunteering at Metropolitan Ministries to assist with their holiday efforts. We’ve also worked with Feeding Tampa Bay, addressing food insecurity, and annually raise money for Toys for Tots, with the firm matching employee donations dollar for dollar.

Last year, we raised $8,000 for Toys for Tots, with contributions from everyone at the firm. Beyond that, we support military-focused organizations like Tunnels to Towers and the SF Memorial Foundation. Community involvement is a way for us to give back and contribute positively to the place we call home.

What are Hyde Park’s top priorities for the next two to three years?

Our primary goal is to continue growing while maintaining our unique culture. We focus on hiring people who align with our values, ensuring we have the right skills and mindset to succeed.

We’re actively recruiting senior bankers with expertise in areas like pharma, life sciences, medical devices, and technology. By expanding these areas of industry focus, we aim to solidify our position as one of the top boutique investment banks nationally.

Culturally, we take pride in fostering a supportive work environment. For instance, during COVID, we allowed employees to bring their dogs to the office to boost morale and make a stressful job more enjoyable. This has become part of our culture, reflecting our commitment to creating a positive and collaborative workplace.

Ultimately, our goal is to scale the firm without losing the values and culture that define Hyde Park. Tampa will remain our hub, but we’re excited to expand nationally while continuing to grow our impact locally.