Firm People Principal Investing Advisory Services HISTORY From its beginnings as the nation's premier foreign securities trading business to the multi-faceted merchant bank it is today, Carl Marks & Co. has created value for nearly a century. Now in its fourth generation, the company remains family owned and operated. 1925 Founded by Carl Marks, with about $6,000 of initial capital, as the nation’s first foreign securities trader 1933 Branches into trading foreign bonds as well 1963 Begins to add other investing businesses, starting with venture capital 1963 Starts one of the nation’s first Small Business Investment Corporations (SBICs), CMNY Capital Co., Inc., to make debt and equity investments in small businesses 1967 Diversifies trading business to include domestic securities 1973 Broadens overall investing activities into mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and private placements 1975 Completes one of the first leveraged buyouts (LBOs), starting a trend followed by Wall Street for decades 1983 Begins investing in real estate 1987 Incubates its first distressed investing business, Carl Marks Strategic Investments (CMSI), to invest in underperforming companies. Later, CMSI becomes part of Carl Marks Management Company, Carl Marks’s current distressed investments business 1988 Merges the foreign exchange business with Smith New Court PLC 1989 Creates its first private equity fund, focused on LBOs 1991 Begins Carl Marks Consulting Group (CMCG), a turnaround consulting business 1992 Launches CM Equity Partners, a generalist private equity business that eventually focuses its investments on U.S. Federal services contractors and aerospace & defense 1995 Sells its Smith New Court PLC holdings to Merrill Lynch (now Bank of America Merrill Lynch) 1996 With a nod to its roots, forms Carl Marks Global Value Fund to invest in foreign securities, primarily in emerging markets 1997 Forms a second SBIC and co-invests in another, continuing to provide capital to small businesses 2000 Begins CM Opportunity Fund to specialize in buyouts of small businesses 2001 Creates Carl Marks Capital Advisors (CMCA), offering investment banking services arising from successful turnaround consulting engagements 2006 Merges CMCA and CMCG into Carl Marks Advisory Group, currently called Carl Marks Advisors 2007 Seeds BlueStar CM Life Sciences Focus Fund to invest in public healthcare equities 2007 Begins partnership with Capital Counsel, LLC, an asset manager 2008 Launches Carl Marks Healthcare Partners to provide operational performance improvement and turnaround management support in the healthcare industry. Later, the business becomes part of Carl Marks Advisory Group 2014 Partners with Sand Oak Capital, and then MFG Partners, which makes private equity investments in family-owned companies, particularly industrials 2015 Anchors Stone-Goff Partners, a private equity firm that invests primarily in the consumer and services sectors SITEMAP CONTACT PRIVACY © 2021 Carl Marks & Co. Inc. All rights reserved. CARL MARKS® and CARL MARKS—CREATING VALUE ® are registered trademarks of Carl Marks & Co. Inc.