Layton Grisette

Layton Grisette is a Managing Director at Argonne Capital Group, an Atlanta-based, closely-held private investment firm founded in 2003 by Michael A. Klump. Grisette joined Argonne in 2012 as a Principal, coming aboard at the same time as Bill Weimar (now Argonne's President). His work has centered on sourcing and executing new acquisitions and on hands-on portfolio management across Argonne's operating companies. Founder Michael Klump described the two hires' "collective experience in sourcing and executing new investments coupled with a track record of hands-on portfolio management" as an excellent addition to the firm.

Before Argonne, Grisette spent more than five years at Arcapita Inc., working within its Private Equity and Infrastructure business lines on companies spanning retail to power generation. Earlier in his career he held business development and valuation roles at The Home Depot and at Deloitte. He holds a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

At Argonne, Grisette has been associated with the firm's franchise- and restaurant-heavy strategy, including oversight tied to Argonne's acquisition of The Krystal Company (the Southern quick-service burger chain) and involvement across holdings such as On The Border and Planet Fitness franchise groups. Argonne's model differs from a traditional fund: it independently capitalizes each investment it makes and emphasizes an indefinite hold period and flexibility on deal size.

Note on classification: public data (Bloomberg, ZoomInfo, RocketReach) lists Grisette as a Managing Director at Argonne, and the stub email/phone point to Argonne. However, he does not appear on Argonne's current (2026) team page, which may indicate a role change or departure — worth confirming directly before outreach.

• Argonne targets mature, cash-generating operating companies, not startups — the firm explicitly pursues companies with roughly $5M–$150M of EBITDA and can deploy up to ~$300M of equity per transaction.
• Preferred deal types: divestitures of closely-held family businesses, management buyouts, corporate carve-outs, public-to-privates, and distressed/broken-auction or undermanaged situations.
• Heavy tilt toward multi-unit, franchise, and consumer-services businesses — restaurants, fitness, automotive services (oil change, repair, dealerships), home and landscaping services, non-apparel retail, plus specialty manufacturing and value-add distribution.
• Distinctive structure: Argonne independently capitalizes each deal rather than deploying from a fixed fund, and touts "an indefinite hold period and the flexibility to pursue transactions – large and small." It will even cover buy-side advisory fees.
• What makes them say yes: a controllable, operationally improvable business (often family-owned or a corporate orphan) where hands-on portfolio management can drive value — the profile Grisette himself was hired to source and manage.