Donald Schaeffer

Donald C. Schaeffer is a Managing Partner and co-founder of De NES Partners, LLC, an Atlanta-based boutique M&A advisory firm focused on owners of family-owned and privately held companies. De NES was formed in 2014 by Schaeffer and Douglas D. Hubert after the two had led the investment banking / M&A advisory practice at CBIZ, Inc. and purchased assets of the CBIZ Mergers & Acquisitions Group.

Before De NES, Schaeffer was a Managing Director in CBIZ’s Investment Banking / Merger & Acquisition Advisory practice. He also worked at CBIZ M&A Group’s predecessor firm, Niederhoffer-Henkel, in Atlanta. His public biography says he has represented business owners and entrepreneurs in M&A transactions for more than 25 years.

Earlier in his career, Schaeffer was an International Banking Officer with Wachovia Corporation, now part of Wells Fargo, supporting Asia/Pacific and European banking groups. He also served as executive director of an international nonprofit before graduate business school and, while in business school, consulted on financial modeling and business plans for business owners seeking start-up/growth capital or operational improvements.

Schaeffer holds an International Baccalaureate degree, a magna cum laude B.A. in Economics and East Asian Studies with a Japan concentration from Washington and Lee University, and an MBA with a Finance concentration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He is a licensed securities representative with Series 7, 63, and 79 registrations, and securities products and investment banking services are offered through BA Securities, LLC.

• De NES is not publicly positioned as an angel-investing firm. Its public materials describe Schaeffer’s work as M&A advisory for business owners considering full sales or recapitalizations.
• The firm focuses on closely held companies whose owners need senior-level guidance through first-time or high-stakes sale processes.
• De NES targets companies with roughly $15-250 million in revenue and $4-25 million in EBITDA, typically family-owned, entrepreneur-owned, or privately held businesses.
• The firm’s model emphasizes direct senior-partner execution: De NES says its two senior partners lead engagements and “do not hand off” work to junior professionals.
• Sector focus is broad but weighted toward lower-middle-market operating businesses: manufacturing, distribution, B2B services, healthcare services, building products, industrial services, food manufacturing, water treatment, software, and specialty construction.
• Public materials describe De NES as “high touch, highly communicative” bankers focused on sale processes, recapitalizations, buyer selection, negotiation, and maximizing transaction outcomes for business owners.