Whitestone Associates/Analytics is a boutique investment banking firm specializing in the buying and selling of industrial companies in the fluid power, motion control, and automation markets. This project will focus on identifying structured and unstructured databases and scraping relevant data that will provide the M&A practitioner some insight as to whether a closely held enterprise would be predisposed to entertain an offer to acquire their company. Many other potential insights could be realized. However, we will start with identifying sellers in a narrow industrial market niche: the fluid power, motion control, and automation markets.

The corporate partner is Frank Gallucci who brings over 25 years of global business proficiency, financial transactions on five continents, and successful transactions with international Fortune 500 companies to his role as Whitestone’s Senior Managing Director. His expertise in acquisitions, divestitures, and capital funding for small to mid-sized clients benefit the domestic and international niche markets in which Whitestone caters.

Whitestone Associates is a boutique investment banking firm specializing in the buying and selling of industrial companies in the fluid power, motion control, and automation markets. Frank Gallucci, this project’s advocate, is its founder.

The ability to analyze data is critical to Whitestone’s success. However, much of the analysis is currently done in an unsystematic way. To the best of our knowledge, there are few firms that use algorithms to determine if a company has a predisposition to sell to a qualified buyer.

Whitestone has made a focused effort over the last few years to assemble a definitive database of enterprises that participate within Whitestone’s Market Sector.

Utilizing and supplementing Whitestone’s database, it is Whitestone’s strategic intent to develop predictive algorithms that will provide leading indicators of a company’s predisposition to entertain an acquisition offer. Our Capstone project will complement and supplement Whitestone’s interest in this project.

Key activities for this project will include, but are not limited to:

 

• Develop a database procurement strategy within Whitestone’s targeted markets.

• Help Whitestone secure that data (a make, buy decision).

•Clean the obtained data (scraped or purchased) to be useful for further analysis.

•Create an algorithm to automate the prior procedures 

Preferred qualifications of student team members:

 

•Entrepreneurial mind-set

•Data procurement and analytical skills

•Project management skills

•Insight into behavioral economic and macroeconomic drivers

•Programming ability Preferred Majors, but open to all students within the School of Business.