"There are three faithful friends - an old wife, an old dog, and ready money."
-Benjamin Franklin

Dartmouth Associates, founded in 1984, has a litany of successes from transforming underperforming operations into profitable businesses even in tough times. We bring a unique mixture of common sense, hands-on experience and knowledge to helping our client’s solve their business problems.

We roll up our shirt sleeves and quickly get down to work in a granular analysis of each business process and asset, to fully understand the business at all levels, and create cash flow, profits and shareholder value for our clients. Our detailed operational focus isn't designed to be pretty or elegant for the outside world. It is functional, tough, laborious work, based on real experience of what actually works. Even more importantly, it is essential for business survival in tough competitive times.

Over the past 20 years, managing at 40,000 feet was acceptable but this won't cut it now in this reset economic world. Financial engineering and philosophizing is fun, but it won’t get the job done when you're fighting for every margin point in a tough market.

The reality for business survival and success today is not a matter of perspective; it is a matter of management’s granular understanding of how the business is performing in reality. You won't find us in the ivory tower, but you will find us with the sales team, in the order department, the engineering meeting, the warehouse, on the production line and in the account's receivable discussion. We just stay focused on the things that really matter to business success every day.

We are differentiated by our knowledge and practical experience of operational turnarounds in many underperforming companies and knowledge of capital markets. Our experience from owning and leading companies, solving real problems and building shareholder value, offers significant value to clients including our:

• Practical operational management experience from all types of businesses across four continents
• Real leadership experience, honed from the crucible of financial distress, making us a credible turnaround partner to lead company revitalization in times of crisis
• Demonstrable success in creating & executing business strategies that deliver profitability and superior shareholder value
• Deep financial markets knowledge and business networks
• Character, persistence and integrity in our dealings

We can quickly assess business situations, create practical solutions and work with our clients to execute efficiently and get results. We measure our success from our client’s success. Our geographical focus is the Western US and Western Canada.

We don't deliver beautifully bound reports, we just deliver results!

Give us a call to initiate a confidential discussion on how we can help. Really!

In certain circumstances, we will also consider investing our own capital in situations where there is potential upside from us working alongside existing ownership and management. Our affiliated company, Dauntless Capital Partners, is a merchant bank and acts as a principal and investor in a range of public and private operating companies. 

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Merger & Acquisition Headlines

[$$] Mizuho Sees Acquisitions as Route to Asia Expansion Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:25:13 UTC - [at The Wall Street Journal] - Mizuho Sees Acquisitions as Route to Asia Expansion Mizuho Financial wants to expand in fast-growing Asia by investing in local financial institutions and building up its existing operations there, according to a senior executive at the bank. [$$] Casey s Gets Higher Buyout Bid From Third Party Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:11:12 UTC - [at The Wall Street Journal] - Casey s Gets Higher Buyout Bid From Third Party Casey s General Stores received a $1.5 billion takeover offer from a third party that tops last week s raised hostile bid from Canadian convenience-store giant Couche-Tard. Key Nomura rainmaker defects to BofA Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:50:07 UTC - [at Financial Times] - Adrian Mee, head of European mergers and acquisitions at Nomura and one of the bank s key rainmakers, has quit the Japanese investment bank to join Bank of America BAC Merrill Lynch. ResCare accepts Onex buyout offer at higher price Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:18:33 UTC - [AP] - Shares of ResCare Inc. jumped Tuesday after the home health services provider said it has accepted a higher buyout offer from Canadian private equity firm Onex Corp.