Thomas High

Thomas High is the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Compliance Officer of The Halifax Group, a private equity firm founded in 1999 that invests in lower middle-market, founder- and family-owned companies. He works out of Halifax's Raleigh, North Carolina office and has been with the firm since 2006. In January 2021 he was promoted from Controller to CFO, succeeding Michael Marshall (who remained a Senior Partner). At the time, Managing Partner Chris Cathcart said, "Thomas has become a critical thought partner and bearer of our mission," crediting his contributions to the firm's growth over his then-15-year tenure.

As CFO/CCO, High's responsibilities span fund management, strategic planning, and firm operations — including corporate finance and budgeting, HR, IT, investor reporting, and compliance. Before joining Halifax, he worked in the assurance practice at KPMG, where he served small, closely-held businesses and private equity firms, giving him direct exposure to the sponsor world he would later join.

High earned his Master of Accounting from North Carolina State University, graduating magna cum laude. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the North Carolina Association of CPAs. Outside of work, his firm bio notes he enjoys time with his two young sons, watching sports, and golfing.

It is worth flagging that the stub data describing Thomas High as an "Angel Investor" focused on "Seed Round" deals does not match the public record. He is a finance and compliance executive at a control-oriented private equity firm; there is no evidence he makes personal angel or seed-stage investments. Founders seeking seed capital are unlikely to find a fit here.

• The Halifax Group invests in lower middle-market businesses, generally with total enterprise values of $50M–$300M and EBITDA of $8M–$30M, writing equity checks of roughly $40M–$80M.
• Transaction types: management buyouts, equity recapitalizations, corporate carve-outs/divestitures, go-private transactions, and add-on acquisitions (no minimum EBITDA for add-ons).
• Sector focus on three areas: Health & Wellness, Outsourced Business Services, and Franchising.
• Halifax positions itself as a founder-friendly partner — it has been named to *Inc.*'s annual "Founder-Friendly Investors" list (2023, 2024, and 2025) and emphasizes partnering with managers and entrepreneurs rather than displacing them.
• Track record framing: the firm states it has invested more than $850 million across 22 founder- and family-owned companies since its 1999 founding.
• Thomas High's own "thesis" is operational rather than deal-sourcing: his role is to steward fund finance, compliance, and investor reporting — he is a gatekeeper of firm operations, not the partner who decides which companies get funded.