My partner and I sell steel, oil and chemical industry safety equipment, and had been struggling with our CFO—having tough year after tough year while industry-wide figures were telling a completely different story. So we put our business on the market in 2017 and went through multiple iterations with prospective buyers. Needless to say, we met with lots of private equity companies. When we met with Hastings, there was a completely different vibe. They were more down to earth, very thoughtful and engaged with the complexities of our business.

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Hastings was not the highest bidder, but their team showed us more potential than I ever thought I’d see—addressing the right aspects of our business and taking a hands-on approach without altering parts of the business which were performing well. They helped us find a great new CFO, a fantastic sales team and some very sharp consultants. I’ve never seen a team so involved and dedicated.

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Since then, we’ve done tremendously well. Throughout the pandemic, our industry has taken a hit, but the team put together strategic plans that performed really well. We managed to stay cash flow positive throughout 2020, and have confidence that 2021 and 2022 will be strong years for our company.