capital. clarity. Commitment.

At B&D, we believe true partnership goes beyond capital — it’s about alignment, vision, and execution. As a merchant bank, we bring a unique combination of flexible capital solutions, strategic advisory expertise, and a deep commitment to long-term value creation. Whether you are scaling your business, exploring acquisitions, or seeking innovative financing, B&D becomes an extension of your team — investing alongside you, advising with real-world experience, and unlocking opportunities through our extensive network. Discover a partner who is entrepreneurial, relationship-driven, and relentlessly focused on helping you build enduring success. This is the B&D difference.

Blystone & Donaldson

Blystone & Donaldson is led by its Co-Founders, Tom Donaldson and John Blystone — experienced partners with a shared vision for value creation through merchant banking.

Tom Donaldson serves as Managing Partner and brings over two decades of experience in private capital, strategic advisory, and operational leadership across multiple sectors. He is known for his disciplined investment approach and deep relationships with institutional and entrepreneurial partners.

John Blystone, Co-Founder, is a seasoned operator and investor with a long track record of building, scaling, and advising high-growth companies. His leadership style emphasizes strategic clarity, governance, and long-term alignment with stakeholders.

Together, Tom and John drive Blystone & Donaldson’s mission: to be a trusted, entrepreneurial merchant bank that builds enduring partnerships and delivers transformative results for clients and investors.

Our Story

Operational Focus

We build value through operational insight, not financial engineering. With decades of experience investing in, advising, and operating businesses across diverse industries, Blystone & Donaldson brings hands-on expertise to every partnership. We work alongside management teams to strengthen execution, scale intelligently, and drive sustainable, long-term growth.

Our Business is Helping Yours

Blystone & Donaldson is a merchant bank that partners with owners, managers and capital providers of successful middle-market companies to unlock and accelerate growth.

Through a combination of strategic advisory and principal investment, often deploying our own capital, we align our interests with those of our partners. We offer the agility to move quickly when opportunities arise, and the commitment to work alongside management teams to create enduring, long-term value.

People and Relationships

We believe great businesses are built by great people.

At Blystone & Donaldson, our mission centers on building lasting relationships with partners who share our values. While we serve as active board members and strategic advisors, we respect the leadership of management teams and avoid interfering in daily operations.

We collaborate to shape and execute strategy, optimize capital structures, professionalize operations, and recruit top talent. Drawing on insights from our portfolio and client network, we help institutionalize best practices that drive long-term success.

Disciplined, Patient Capital | Time-Tested Approach

At Blystone & Donaldson, we take a long-term approach to value creation. Our focus is on building durable, sustainable growth through transformational strategy, operational improvements, and thoughtfully executed acquisitions. We pursue returns driven by innovation, revenue expansion, and strategic execution, not by financial engineering.

As a merchant bank, we engage in a broad range of complex and value-enhancing transactions, including:

Strategic Acquisitions & Consolidations
Growth Capital Investments
Management Buyouts
Debt & Equity Recapitalizations
Restructurings & Turnarounds
Divestitures & Carve-Outs

We tailor each transaction to the unique needs of our partners—bringing flexible capital, seasoned advisory, and deep execution experience to every deal.

WHY B&D?

The Platform

Private Credit

Our private credit platform offers innovative financing options to a diverse range of companies spanning multiple sectors and regions. We concentrate on backing businesses that remain resilient during downturns and consistently deliver lasting value.

Unrivaled National Network

We unite our elite community of business-owning clients and investors, empowering them to tap into the collective insights and expertise of distinguished leaders.

The Merchant Bank Model

At Blystone & Donaldson, our merchant banking model offers a distinct advantage over traditional investment banks and private equity firms.

Unlike conventional institutions that rigidly separate functions, our structure integrates strategic advisory, capital formation, and principal investment capabilities—under a unified platform. While our broker-dealer affiliate (BDCP) does not invest directly alongside clients, our principals may participate in select opportunities through separate vehicles, always maintaining transparency and regulatory compliance.

This approach allows us to align strategically with our clients and partners, offering flexible, creative solutions tailored to each situation. Rather than acting solely as service providers, we function as long-term partners—leveraging real-world operating experience, deep capital markets insight, and a relationship-first ethos to drive results.

In a market that increasingly values agility, alignment, and integrated thinking, Blystone & Donaldson delivers a differentiated and trusted platform for value creation.

Strategic Solutions and Restructuring

In today’s volatile markets, business disruption is inevitable, but with the right leadership, it can become a catalyst for growth. At Blystone & Donaldson, we bring steady hands and clear judgment to complex, high-stakes situations. Whether through operational turnaround, financial restructuring, or strategic repositioning, we help organizations navigate uncertainty and emerge stronger.

Our clients, ranging from company leadership and boards to investors, lenders, and creditors, trust us to preserve, create, and recover value in moments of pressure. We move quickly, but thoughtfully, always with a long-term view and deep respect for stakeholder alignment.

As a merchant bank, we provide more than just advisory. We partner closely with management teams to stabilize operations, improve liquidity, evaluate strategic alternatives, and secure capital under challenging conditions. We also support creditors with objective, outcome-driven analysis to help maximize recoveries and maintain value throughout the restructuring process.

Our multidisciplinary experience, across industries and capital structures, enables us to assess challenges with precision and respond with speed. Clients turn to B&D for restructuring, turnaround leadership, capital markets advisory, interim management, diligence, merger integration, carve-outs, and broader business transformation strategies.

We don’t just solve problems—we build stronger businesses from them.