Demanding

vcardClinton Johnston

Managing Partner
4030 West Boy Scout Blvd
Suite 500
Tampa FL 33607
About

In his many roles, Mr. Johnston has worked as an outside advisor, an in-house team member, and an owner on both purchases and sales of different businesses. His education is similarly diverse, with a Bachelor of Science with High Honors in Government from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, a Master of Arts in Latin American Economics from New York University, a Juris Doctorate Cum Laude from Harvard Law School, and a Master of Science in Finance from the University of Tampa from which he graduated first in his class with a perfect grade point average. He started in mergers and acquisitions as an attorney on Wall Street, working on publicly traded and bulge bracket deals. He moved from larger to smaller markets and across continents, having lived and worked in Europe, Asia, South America and North America. The majority of his work has focused on cross-border transactions. Additionally, he has been a lecturer at three universities on subjects including negotiation, finance, and business law.

Clinton truly enjoys the work we do. He supports the Transaction Teams and assists on particularly challenging or significant deals. Using his decades of experience, he often drops into transactions to which he can add extra value. He works to ensure uniformity of service levels across large portions of clients’ businesses and tracks best practices and regulatory changes in the M&A world to assure that Benchmark remains on the cutting edge of the industry and continues to deliver the highest quality service to our clients.

Success

Clinton takes pride in strengthening the deal prep process. As the market has got more complex, buyers are increasingly bringing complex concepts from the larger markets down to the middle markets. The Benchmark International process must keep up with these buyer habits and expectations. Since the integration of a more buyer-focused approach to this part of the process, Benchmark International has increased the client education role of team members working on this stage. Both initiatives have resulted in more closings, faster closings, higher transaction values, and happier clients.

Critical

Tombstones

Sample of Involvement

Our Success
Morgan Wood Products, Inc.Acquired ByEP Group
Seller
Morgan Wood Products, Inc.
Acquirer
EP Group
Industry
Business Services
RanewAcquired ByALJ Regional Holdings, Inc.
Seller
Ranew
Acquirer
ALJ Regional Holdings, Inc.
Industry
Industrial and Manufacturing
ECHO Power EngineeringAcquired ByHigh Net Worth Individual
Seller
ECHO Power Engineering
Acquirer
High Net Worth Individual
Industry
Construction
KGM Company LogoAcquired ByCompass Group Equity Partners Company Logo
Seller
Wilnat, Inc, DBA KGM
Acquirer
Compass Group Equity Partners
Industry
Energy and Power
PBK Architects, Inc. - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByDC Capital Partners
Seller
PBK Architects, Inc.
Acquirer
DC Capital Partners
Industry
Construction
Atlanta Biologicals, Inc - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByBio-Techne Corporation
Seller
Atlanta Biologicals, Inc
Acquirer
Bio-Techne Corporation
Industry
Healthcare
UBEO Business Services - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired BySentinel Capital Partners - Benchmark International Success
Seller
UBEO Business Services
Acquirer
Sentinel Capital Partners
Industry
Business Services
Oncology Plus Inc - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByAvella Specialty Pharmacy - Benchmark International Success
Seller
Oncology Plus Inc
Acquirer
Avella Specialty Pharmacy
Industry
Healthcare
Carl Amber Brian Isaiah and Associates Co. - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByWhalen Strategies - Benchmark International Client Success
Seller
Carl Amber Brian Isaiah and Associates Co.
Acquirer
Whalen Strategies
Industry
Business Services
Gasco Affiliates, LLC - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByTech Air, CI Capital Partners Company - Benchmark International Success
Seller
Gasco Affiliates, LLC
Acquirer
Tech Air, CI Capital Partners Company
Industry
Industrial and Manufacturing
Warkentine, Inc, DBA Computer RX - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByTransaction Data Systems (Rx30) - Benchmark International Success
Seller
Warkentine, Inc, DBA Computer RX
Acquirer
Transaction Data Systems (Rx30)
Industry
Healthcare
Action Concrete Pumping - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByBrundage-Bone Concrete Pumping, Inc. - Benchmark International Success
Seller
Action Concrete Pumping
Acquirer
Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping, Inc.
Industry
Construction
Central Emergency Medical Services Inc - Benchmark International Client SuccessAcquired ByPriority Ambulance owned by Enhanced Equity Funds - Benchmark International Success
Seller
Central Emergency Medical Services Inc
Acquirer
Priority Ambulance owned by Enhanced Equity Funds
Industry
Healthcare
RX30Acquired ByGTCR
Seller
Transaction Data Systems (RX30)
Acquirer
GTCR
Industry
Healthcare
Braille BatteryAcquired ByGrafoid, Inc.
Seller
Braille Battery
Acquirer
Grafoid, Inc.
Industry
Industrial and Manufacturing
AW SolutionsAcquired ByInterCloud Systems, Inc.
Seller
AW Solutions
Acquirer
InterCloud Systems, Inc.
Industry
Technology, Media, Telecom, and Data
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Competitive

Education

United States Coast Guard Academy - High Honors in Government

New York University - Master of Arts in Latin American Economics

Harvard Law School - Juris Doctorate Cum Laude

University of Tampa - Master of Science in Finance

Experience

At one point in his career, Mr. Johnston had been engaged by a start-up company to raise and spend large amounts of capital. In his short tenure there, they raised $100M in equity and $30M in debt, completed 60 acquisitions and no longer needed to raise capital. He was employee number twelve, and when he left the company it had more than 200 employees. Prior to that, he worked in IT Strategy and Planning at Verizon. This role involved divesting obsolete or non-core technology divisions and acquiring companies with best-in-class technology, as well as dealing with significant unintended financial overhang from prior acquisitions.

Clinton finds success in seeing the Benchmark International process result in closed deals, high multiples, and the achievement of clients’ objectives. He has seen transactions from every angle, allowing him to anticipate the counter-party’s next five moves, understand their motivation, and seal the best possible deal. Also, having worked dozens of deals living in countries ranging from India to Bolivia, he has often been forced into lopsided negotiations as the underdog on many fronts. This gives him a special ability to speak to clients about anything, including possible holes in deals.

Passion

Mr. Johnston believes that every business is a family business, and most businesses are like family members. Parting with a business is difficult, whether it has been the main source of income for a family or because it is viewed like a member of the family itself. Being asked to help a business owner with this process is a great honor that requires him to do his best for that owner. 

Thorough

Intelligent

We really appreciated the way he taught us what was going on - and what was going to be going on - as we worked through the issues. It’s hard to fit in the time to take that extra step but he always managed to squeeze it in without detracting from the flow of the deal and that made us all more comfortable as we raced ahead at a breakneck pace through what was, for us at least, uncharted waters.
Sharing with us how he could see things from so many angles at once gave me the belief that we were able to stay a step ahead of the buyer and I know that greatly eased the stress I felt throughout the deal and I strongly suspect it kept the deal alive on more than one occasion.