Lower middle
market
acquisitions.
A private equity firm built on deep operational expertise, aligned incentives, and a hands-on approach to building lasting value.
Our reputation
matters.
Willis & Smith Capital was founded by co-founders Eric Willis and Terry Smith to create a private equity firm focused on partnering with successful business owners and management that can benefit from new capital and our operational expertise.
We bring deep private equity expertise and unique, substantial experience outside of the traditional investment community. Most importantly, we value a fierce alignment of interests — we invest our own money in each transaction, ensuring a true partnership and an owner's perspective.
"We invest our own money in each transaction ensuring a true partnership and an owner's perspective."
Why Willis + Smith Capital
You can trust us to stay committed.
We approach each investment with the core belief that a hands-on approach is the only viable way to succeed — even if that means pitching in on the production floor or calling on customers.
We are highly experienced.
Prior to co-founding Willis & Smith Capital, we had decades of experience with private company transactions. Eric has worked in private equity since 2005, involved in ~30 transactions including at Platinum Equity. Terry was a successful lawyer and Chief Operating Officer.
We are here to stay.
Eric and Terry have been close friends for 30 years, and have worked together on transactions for 5 years prior to co-founding Willis & Smith Capital. This is a long-term commitment.
Investment
Criteria
We seek opportunities in established businesses where our operational expertise and capital can accelerate growth and build sustainable value.
Target Industries
We focus on sectors where operational expertise creates lasting competitive advantage.
The Partners
30 years of friendship. Decades of combined private equity experience. One firm.
Eric Willis
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Eric is a co-founder and Managing Partner of Willis & Smith Capital. He has been investing in private equity since 2005, and has spent his entire career helping companies grow and become more profitable in a variety of operating and advisory capacities.
Prior to co-founding Willis & Smith Capital, Eric was a Partner at CounterPoint Capital Partners, a lower middle market operations focused private equity firm based in Los Angeles, where he was responsible for deal origination, transaction evaluation, due diligence, negotiations, and the successful transition and development of portfolio companies. While at CounterPoint Capital Partners, Eric and the firm were awarded Lower Middle Market category Deal of the Year at the M&A Advisor's 6th Annual Turnaround Awards for its acquisition of POP Displays.
Before joining CounterPoint Capital Partners, Eric was an investment professional at Platinum Equity, an operations focused multi-billion dollar private equity firm based in Los Angeles, where he was responsible for transaction evaluation, due diligence, execution of operational improvements and successful realizations of portfolio investments. Prior to his time at Platinum Equity, Eric was a Manager at Ernst & Young, a global Big Four accounting firm, in their M&A practice focused on quality of earnings diligence for private equity and corporate clients.
During the course of his career in private equity, Eric has served in a variety of operating capacities in portfolio companies; most recently, he served as the transitional CFO of Artcobell prior to placement of Artcobell's permanent CFO.
Eric earned a Bachelor of Science degree from San Diego State University, cum laude and with honors in accountancy. Eric obtained his CPA license from California in 2002 (he is no longer an active member) and has been a CFA charterholder since 2004. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of and owns positions in several companies.
Terry Smith
Co-Founder & Partner
Terry is a co-founder and a Partner of Willis & Smith Capital. He has spent his career helping companies with a wide variety of business transactions through their entire lifecycles, from formation, through investment and growth, to eventual exit. He brings substantial legal and executive business experience, and has frequently acted as general counsel to portfolio companies. He serves or served on the Board of Directors of Performance Stamping, LLC; J&E Companies (J&E Manufacturing LLC and R&B Grinding, LLC); and TPE Midstream, LLC, the recapitalization of which won Willis & Smith Capital and its partners the Energy Deal of the Year award at the M&A Advisor's 20th annual M&A Awards.
Prior to co-founding Willis & Smith Capital, Terry spent seven years working at BRADY, a leading San Diego based lower-middle market engineering and construction firm then owned by its original founder, Rick Brady, who now serves as the Engineering Advisor to Willis & Smith Capital. As Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel, Terry led a successful divestiture of its construction business, conducted a concurrent company-wide restructuring, and substantially improved strategic focus and financial performance. Shortly after, the executive team received and evaluated various acquisition offers, and the firm was acquired in a private equity transaction in 2018, providing liquidity to the founding shareholder, and a committed financial and operating partner.
Previously, he worked as a contract negotiator for Bank of America, frequently assigned to its Fortune 100 clients, with whom he negotiated hundreds of commercial contracts.
He began his career as a corporate & securities attorney with Cooley LLP, an AM LAW 100 global law firm, where he was involved in numerous M&A transactions, commercial contract negotiations, and general corporate legal matters. He holds an LL.M., with distinction, in Securities & Financial Regulation from Georgetown University Law Center, and B.B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of San Diego.
Additional Team Members
Christine Brady
Chief Financial Officer
Christine (Bud) is the Chief Financial Officer of Willis & Smith Capital. She oversees company-wide financial and asset management functions, including responsibility for accounting practices, policies and procedures, and assists with a wide variety of deal execution functions.
Most recently, Christine acted as CFO of BRADY, a lower-middle market engineering and construction firm that was recently acquired in a successful private equity transaction.
Previously, she worked as a financial analyst for a Fortune 500 defense contractor. She holds a B.S. (accountancy), summa cum laude, from the University of San Diego School of Business.
Thomas Alt, Ph.D.
Commercial & Technology Advisor
Thomas Alt, Ph.D. (Engineering), is the Commercial & Technology Advisor to Willis & Smith Capital. Concurrently, Thomas is a Venture Partner at Atlantic Bridge Ventures, and a founder of ramblr.ai, an Augmented Reality software company.
Thomas is an experienced entrepreneur with a demonstrated history of working globally in a variety of capacities requiring advanced engineering solutions. Thomas founded Metaio in 2003, an AR software company which he scaled globally until acquired by Apple in 2015. After, Thomas served as Apple's Director of Engineering as well as Director of Procurement on the Strategic Deals Team.
Thomas is highly skilled in Augmented Reality, Entrepreneurship and Strategic Partnerships and leads dealflow in key sectors like AR/VR, Automotive, and Software.
Thomas is an investor in and advisor to numerous companies in Europe and the United States.
Kieren Patel, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Kieren is the Scientific Advisor to Willis & Smith Capital. Kieren has held a number of leadership roles across both small and large life sciences companies, launching and managing a variety of medical device products and services.
Most recently, he served as Head of Product & Marketing for a revolutionary life science startup founded by Jonathan Rothberg. He is the architect of the company's commercial strategy which resulted in a $550M funding event for a SPAC merger and subsequent listing on NASDAQ (QSI).
Previously he served in product management leadership at industry leader Illumina (ILMN), managing a genomics product portfolio which grossed $1.5B+ in sales and contributed 75% of top line incremental revenue.
Prior to joining Illumina, Kieren was also a medical device entrepreneur, launching and operating Opticent Health, a startup dedicated to developing novel ophthalmic imaging devices for early detection and prevention of blinding diseases.
He was formerly a scientific advisor at Wilson, Sonsini, Goodrich & Rosati, an AM LAW 100 law firm, where his primary focus was patent prosecution and IP due diligence in the fields of biotechnology, genomics, and drug therapeutics.
Kieren received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley in Molecular and Cell Biology, and his J.D. and M.B.A., respectively, from Northwestern University School of Law and Kellogg School of Management, where he was a Zell Scholar. He graduated magna cum laude with an AB in Molecular Biology and Comparative Literature from Cornell University.
Richard Brady
Engineering Advisor
Richard Brady, P.E., BCEE is the Engineering Advisor to Willis & Smith Capital and has a long history with the firm. Rick founded, successfully built, and sold a civil engineering firm where he was Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. For seven years, Rick employed Terry Smith as Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel.
Rick is a licensed Civil Engineer, internationally recognized for his engineering contributions to large municipal water projects serving safe drinking water to millions of people around the world. His major clients include the USEPA, The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, the City of San Diego, and the U.S. Navy.
In his 41-year career, he has managed some of the largest water supply projects constructed in the United States, most notably the 200 million gallons per day Alvarado Water Treatment Plant for the City of San Diego. He has managed more than 50 reservoir design projects, including the 35 million gallon Earl Thomas Reservoir, at one time the largest prestressed concrete reservoir in the world, and in 2012 he provided expert engineering assistance for Qatar's Mega Reservoirs Project.
He has provided civil engineering expertise to numerous international clients, most notably the Sydney Water Board, Australia and the governments of India, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
Mr. Brady graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering in 1980, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School's Owner/President Management Program. He is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer and a chapter author in the AWWA/ASCE Water Treatment Plant Design textbook, 5th edition, Chapter 16, Activated Carbon Absorption.
