Bryce May

Bryce C. May is a co-founder and Managing Partner of American Working Capital, LLC (AWC), a merchant bank that advises and invests in privately held, U.S.-based middle-market companies. He is based in the firm's New York office and works across the firm's dual mandate as both a direct investor and a provider of co-investment capital, with particular depth in change-of-control transactions and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). He brings more than 25 years of experience as an investment banking and private equity professional, spanning growth capital financings, acquisitions, recapitalizations, divestitures, and restructurings.

Before co-founding AWC, May was a Member of The Yucaipa Companies, a multi-billion-dollar investment management firm focused on the retail, distribution, logistics, and related consumer sectors. Earlier, he was a Managing Director in the investment banking practice of Duff & Phelps, LLC, where he advised both public and privately held middle-market companies on mergers, acquisitions, and capital-raising activities.

May has served on the boards of several AWC portfolio and platform companies, including Geokinetics, Concord Maritime, Medway (air ambulance), and Salva Terra. His work centers on partnering with existing ownership and management teams over longer holding periods rather than pursuing short-term flips.

He holds a B.S. from Indiana University, an M.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an M.B.A. from the Graduate School of Business at Columbia University.

• Invests in established, cash-flow-positive middle-market operating companies — AWC targets "scalable operating companies that have established revenues and predictable cash flows," not early-stage or seed-round ventures.
• Acts as both a direct investor and a co-investment capital provider, frequently partnering with other sponsors (e.g., Delos Capital, Castellan) on transactions.
• Deep specialization in Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) and ownership-succession structures, alongside management buyouts, capital restructurings, growth capital, and acquisition financing.
• Favors longer-term partnerships with existing owners and management teams rather than control-and-replace strategies.
• Sector pattern skews toward industrials and essential services — environmental mitigation, waste processing, maritime/shipping, and medical/air transport — reflecting a preference for durable, asset- or service-backed cash flows.