Capstone Financial Group Inc., an investment banking firm specializing in the automotive aftermarket, has announced the opening of its new Silicon Valley office in San Jose. The office will serve an automotive industry that is rapidly expanding in the area, spurred by some of the Valley’s most iconic companies.
“Silicon Valley has become a hotbed of automotive development with Apple, Tesla, Google and others all entering the fray,” said Dan Smith, president of Capstone. “We anticipate that very soon much of the automotive industry will be centered here, so we wanted to be the first investment banking firm to establish this kind of local automotive presence.”
Since 1999, about 75 percent of Capstone’s 40 M&A transactions have been in California. The San Jose office provides clients, and prospective clients, with the insight and connections needed for this new wave of auto aftermarket transactions. With its headquarters in South Carolina, Capstone Financial Group now has a presence on both the East Coast and the West Coast.
Drawing on his experience and knowledge, Smith said he sees a game-changing trend in the aftermarket. “Much of the manufacturing base will be replaced by software engineers working on parts and programs for the new technologies developed by Silicon Valley-based companies,” he said.
To that end, Capstone Financial Group recently facilitated an acquisition for Autologue Computer Systems Inc. from eBay Inc. The deal, in which Autologue purchased three distribution management systems from eBay Inc., makes Autologue the second-largest player in its segment of the industry, according to Capstone.
