Protegrity Advisors, LLC

By Joe Campolo
HIA-LI Board Chair and Managing Partner, Campolo, Middleton & McCormick LLP.

For an entrepreneur who has devoted his or her life to building a business, the idea of selling it brings up sensitive questions about identity, family, timing, and value. Not to mention, managing the day-to-day details of selling a business can quickly become all-consuming to a business owner whose hands are already full.

Enter Protegrity Advisors. A mergers and acquisitions advisory  firm based in Ronkonkoma, Protegrity serves companies and family-owned businesses with revenue from $5 million to $100 million across a range of industries, managing the entire M&A process for a typically underserved sector.

Protegrity’s goal: help Long Island business owners navigate what is likely the most complex and emotionally fraught transaction of their lives – and obtain maximum value.

CEO Gregg Schor has lived and breathed M&A for more than two decades, managing the process as both an outside advisor and in house executive.

“The turning point for me came several years ago when I learned about business owners who sold their company at an undervalued purchase price to the  first potential buyer that came along,” Schor recently explained to me (I also serve as chairman of Protegrity’s advisory board). “Companies in this revenue range are the lifeblood of Long Island, but they’re typically below the threshold of traditional investment banks and above the sophistication of business brokers.” Seeing a significant gap in the market, Schor decided to leverage his 20-plus years of experience to establish Protegrity Advisors.

Gregg Schor, 2017 Rookie of the Year recipient of HIA-LI Business Achievement Awards

The firm works to prepare clients for a potential sale ahead of time, before they’re under the microscope of potential buyers. If there’s no buyer in place, they research, identify, qualify, and confidentially contact prospective buyers and develop marketing materials, tapping into their network of private equity  firms, public and private companies, family offices, search funds, and other types of buyers. Protegrity also prepares and presents financial statements, negotiates the purchase price and related terms, supervises the due diligence process, and quarterbacks the client’s legal, accounting, and wealth management providers. (Protegrity also offers valuation services and works with clients seeking to buy businesses or divest business units.)

The Protegrity team and advisory board are comprised of serial entrepreneurs, business owners, and former private and public company C-Suite executives who have started and sold companies, giving them critical insight into the M&A process. “It’s a tremendous responsibility to be trusted with selling a company that may have been started by a prior generation and whose proceeds are meant to take care of future generations,” Schor said. “We take on that responsibility with the commensurate level of dedication and respect.”

Long Island is home to a substantial number of successful companies in a wide range of sectors, and the region’s demographics and population, location in the New York metropolitan area, and proximity to world-class universities and international airports make Long Island an ideal platform for future growth. “I believe these factors position many Long Island business owners for successful exits, and at the same time, make it attractive for buyers to remain, hire, and invest here post-transaction and for the longterm,” Schor explained. Protegrity’s focus on growing Long Island business recently earned the company a Business Achievement Award from HIA-LI. 

There’s a wealth of opportunity on Long Island for businesses to flourish. Whether you want to grow or make a successful exit, Protegrity can help expand your possibilities. Learn more at https://protegrityadvisors.com/.