What We Do

Our Services

Ascendant offers a suite of services to help our clients prepare for critical transitions within their business and execute on that plan — while focused on enhancing and solidifying their shareholder value.

Business Advisory services help clients improve their existing business and prepare for strategic transactions. We do this through fundamental analysis of internal and external factors as well as proven planning methods. At strategic inflection points, Ascendant represents our clients in raising capital and through acquisitions as they grow into the next stage of development or seek to lock-in the value they’ve built. We listen first, then we propose a customized service offering to get you the results you need.

Mergers & Acquisitions

Mergers & Acquisitions

As an experienced M&A advisor dedicated to putting our client’s success first, Ascendant brings together a unique combination of industry knowledge, insight into what drives value at the company level, and capital markets access and expertise, all to ensure maximum value with the least amount of risk.

Ascendant is ready to represent clients as a buy-side or sell-side advisor. We advise our clients on deal structure and valuation and can lead the entire process from idea generation through diligence and close. We understand value and terms are important drivers of success, but we also honor the more emotionally important factors in a deal, including employees, customers, and business legacy.

Capital Raise

Capital Raise

When raising capital to grow your business or facilitate an ownership transition, the experience of a skilled professional team makes all the difference. We provide advice on capital formation and assist our clients in understanding the fundamental requirements of raising capital. We develop realistic strategies to help clients define their optimal capital structure, balancing debt, and equity.

As a FINRA-registered broker-dealer, we have full access to source creative debt solutions and equity capital for our clients from a variety of sources. Additionally, we identify investors who are aligned with our clients and can provide value that goes beyond capital.

Business Advisory

Business Advisory

Ascendant combines its unique market, financial, and business skills to deliver objective advice and guidance so our clients can grow their businesses, improve performance, and/or manage risk more effectively.

We help clients prepare for success through business improvement tools focused on building culture, a winning strategy, and a usable business plan. When clients are ready for growth, we are able to help with market and competitive analysis, business valuation, and business development process design and support.

Industries We Serve

Our focus is along the agriculture value chain, from row crop farming and commodity processing to renewable fuels production and food ingredient manufacturing. We understand what drives value in this sector, including market fundamentals, margin structure, and customer demands. Our commitment to serving companies in this space, in good times and bad, ensures a level of understanding and dependability that matters.

Agribusiness

Agribusiness

Ascendant’s agribusiness experience includes risk management, storage & handling, processing, marketing, and multi-modal transportation. We have worked across many sectors, including row crops, fruits, vegetables, dairy, and livestock processing.

We have experience providing a range of services, including market assessments, business feasibilities, investment evaluations, capital formation, business valuation, strategic planning, and mergers and acquisitions. We understand the market dynamics, business drivers, and capital requirements needed to create superior results, and we have a track record of success to back us up.

Renewable Fuels

Renewable Fuels

An intimate understanding of the upstream and downstream industry dynamics is fundamental to creating superior results for our renewable fuels clients. Ascendant has completed more than 250 renewable fuels and energy assignments for ethanol, renewable diesel feedstock and production, renewable natural gas, biodiesel and other emerging biofuels and technologies. This includes investment evaluations, capital formation, business valuation, strategic planning, and M&A transactions. Ascendant’s deep experience, passion for the industry, and knowledge makes us the leading investment bank and advisor to the renewable fuels industry.

Food

Food

We understand the factors affecting the food industry, including commodity supply and demand, logistics, storage and transportation, manufacturing of products, and market forces. Because of our decades of experience in the food industry, we can help identify trends and be proactive in developing and harnessing opportunities. We have access to strategic partners and private capital that can help your company grow, sell, make acquisitions or bring in capital for liquidity planning

Frequently Asked Questions

Decades of Relevant Experience

Our team brings a unique combination of executive leadership, commercial management, and ag banking and financial expertise to our partnerships with our clients — all in an effort to ensure their success. We understand your business because we’ve been there. With over $3 billion of closed transactions, we have a track record of success ready to back you up — this is what we do.