January 31, 2019 (Boston, MA) – Covington Associates, a leading middle market investment bank announced its role as financial advisor to Keystone Partners, a leading provider of comprehensive outplacement, career management, executive coaching, and leadership development services, in its recapitalization by Silver Oak Services Partners, LLC, a leading lower middle market private equity firm.

Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Boston, MA, Keystone offers an array of outplacement and talent management services tailored to meet the needs of all employees, from entry-level to senior executives through its distinct divisions: Keystone Associates, Camden Consulting Group, and Essex Partners. Keystone has the ability to deliver services on a national and international basis through its partnership with Career Partners International.

Silver Oak invested alongside Keystone’s senior management team in the transaction. The existing management team will continue in their current roles with Keystone and retain a significant ownership stake in the business.

“For over 35 years Keystone has served as a trusted resource to leading organizations providing best in class outplacement, career and leadership development services. Silver Oak provides the additional capital resources and expertise we need to scale our platform while continuing to provide high quality service to our diverse customer base,” said Ralph Roberto, CEO of Keystone.

Silver Oak has made several investments in the human resources industry and was attracted to the outplacement and talent management services subsector due to the strong industry tailwinds, countercyclical business model, and high degree of fragmentation. Greg Barr, Managing Partner at Silver Oak, said, “We believe Keystone is a great platform from which to grow due to its excellent reputation for providing premium services, strong customer relationships, experienced management team and talented employee base.” Andrew Gustafson, Principal at Silver Oak, added, “We are thrilled to be able to work with the Keystone team and look forward to helping them continue the Company’s strong track record of growth.”

About Covington Associates

Covington Associates is an investment banking firm offering advisory services in the areas of mergers and acquisitions (“M&A”), capital raising, strategic advisory, fairness opinions, and valuations to middle-market companies across the Healthcare, Business Services, Consumer & Industrial, and Technology verticals. Founded in 1991, with offices in Boston, the vision for Covington has been to provide clients with the highest caliber of senior-level attention and to remain an advice driven and results focused organization. Since its inception, Covington Associates has completed more than 200 transactions globally for both private and publicly traded companies totaling over $15 billion. Further information about Covington Associated can be found at http://www.covingtonassociates.com/overview.

About Keystone Partners

Keystone Partners is a leading career management and leadership development consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Keystone works with organizations in New England, the Research Triangle, and around the world to efficiently and effectively address their career management and development needs.

Keystone Partners’ divisions include Keystone Associates, which provides comprehensive career management services through executive level; Essex Partners, a premier career consultancy exclusively for senior executives; and Camden Consulting Group, leadership and talent management experts who help leaders and their organizations learn, develop, grow and thrive. Keystone Partners is also a founding partner of Career Partners International. For more information, please visit www.keystonepartners.com.

About Silver Oak Services Partners

Silver Oak invests in business, healthcare, and consumer services companies in the lower middle market, typically with EBITDA of $4 million to $20 million. www.silveroaksp.com.