Los Angeles-based mergers and acquisitions adviser Palm Tree LLC has opened an office in Dallas to cover the South Central region of the U.S.

Palm Tree is a multifaceted M&A adviser that provides integrated investment banking and related business consulting services for private equity firms and businesses worldwide.

“Palm Tree recognizes a significant opportunity in Dallas, a thriving metropolitan hub within Texas, aligning seamlessly with our core sectors of focus,” CEO and President Pardis Nasseri said in a statement. “These encompass industrials, manufacturing, energy, business services, consumer, education, tourism, and hospitality.” 

Nasseri noted that Dallas “boasts a pool of talented professionals, a burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem, and a vibrant landscape of family and founder-owned enterprises, all positioning it as a strategic cornerstone for us to deliver top-tier investment banking and consulting services.”

Palm Tree said its office in Dallas complements its existing offices, including its L.A. headquarters and its Midwestern branches in Chicago and Detroit.

The firm said the expansion supports its ongoing efforts to strengthen its team of 120 professionals who provide finance, business consulting, and transactional expertise to middle-market businesses at every phase of the M&A process, from sale preparation to deal closure.

Native Texans to lead Dallas office

In May, Texas native Phillip Cooper, an investment banking managing director at Palm Tree, joined Rouzheen Myrick in Dallas to provide the full suite of Palm Tree services to clients, the firm said.

Palm Tree said its move into North Texas is aimed at catering to client needs and business interests in the Dallas-Fort Worth market, as well as across Texas and beyond.

Cooper has had a substantial finance career dating back to 1990, with expertise spanning numerous sectors such as manufacturing, industrials, energy, communications, consumer, restaurants, transportation, logistics, and aerospace and defense, Palm Tree said.

His advisory experience includes buy-and-sell-side transactions, capital raises, and debt restructurings, and he brings a robust referral network within the family and founder-owned business community in Dallas and beyond, the firm said.

“Dallas represents the next strategic hub for Palm Tree due to its substantial middle market clientele and its central location, offering access to other major Texas metropolitan areas like Houston and Austin,” Cooper said in a statement. “This move enables us to expand our client services across a broader region and more widely deliver our well-established, high-quality business consulting and investment banking offerings.”

Cooper will collaborate with fellow Texas native Myrick, also a director of Palm Tree’s Consulting service line.

Before coming to Palm Tree, Myrick built more than a decade of experience in M&A and finance, working in the assurance and transaction services divisions at EY and AECOM’s headquarters in Los Angeles.

Palm Tree said her extensive background encompasses transactions exceeding $7 billion in value, focusing on financial due diligence for both buy-side and sell-side deals, integration, purchase price accounting, and financial planning and analysis.

‘A dynamic community of growing companies’

Nasseri said that Cooper and Myrick are well suited to lead the Dallas team.

“Having known Cooper for up to two decades and witnessing Myrick’s rapid professional growth since joining Palm Tree four years ago, they are ideal to spearhead this initiative. With extensive professional networks in the region and diverse transactional experience aligning with Palm Tree’s M&A, business consulting, and due diligence practices, we’re confident they’ll ensure our continued success.”

Cooper called Dallas-Fort Worth an excellent “foothold for serving the South Central U.S.”

He added, “Texas has emerged as a magnet for driven professionals and business leaders from across the country, fostering a dynamic community of growing companies with diverse financial and transactional needs.”

Myrick said she’s enthusiastic about the opportunity.

“Our objective is to further capitalize on Palm Tree’s existing momentum and untapped potential we see in this region. As an original Palm Tree consultant in these cities, I have witnessed the rapid growth within the Dallas-Fort Worth middle market,” she said. “The Palm Tree culture and our priority on quality service for our clients perfectly fit this region. I am excited to collaborate with Cooper in attracting new business to our expanding firm from this promising marketplace, heralding a bright future for Palm Tree.”

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