Insights

By Eric Mandel

BYRON E. SMALL

There are plenty of opportunities to take shortcuts in venture capital, said Mike Lonergan, managing partner of Georgia Oak Partners.

It could be cost-cutting or aggressive streamlining that "cut the muscle" out of a newly acquired business. He likens the approach to using steroids in baseball.

It's the antithesis of his vision for the Atlanta firm that makes equity investments in founder- and family-owned companies in the state.

"We're all about the long way, the sustainable way, which is growing the businesses — more markets, more products, hiring more people to sell more, and make a bigger, bigger organization," he said.

It got Lonergan thinking: Who would be the best person to represent that philosophy? His answer was Atlanta Braves legend Dale Murphy, a celebrity hire that harkens to his youth as a "TBS kid."

"I just kind of thought that Dale has that similar cachet to folks in the state of Georgia," Lonergan said. "He is so on-brand for what we do and how we're trying to do it. He's done things the right way in a league that people often times didn't do things the right way."

Murphy told Atlanta Business Chronicle he's accepted the role of managing director for Georgia Oak Partners, a growing private equity firm that Lonergan says includes companies approaching $500 million in revenue.

The position brings Murphy back full-time to the state where he won back-to-back MVPs, and will allow him to establish long-term relationships with family-run businesses.

"My experience is more on leadership, teamwork, the value of resilience," Murphy said. "I'm talking about the fundamentals of doing things right and being successful."

Why Murph fits the mold

Murphy was a first-round draft pick by the Atlanta Braves in 1974 and a seven-time All-Star. Sports Illustrated put him on its cover multiples times and named him the athlete “Who Cared the Most” in 1987.

Off the diamond, Murphy is a motivational speaker and author. He also owns Murph's restaurant in the Cobb Galleria Centre, across from The Battery Atlanta.

After mulling the idea since 2019, Lonergan approached Murphy this year about the opportunity to be a long-term difference-maker for small businesses, rather than a speaker providing short-term inspiration at trade shows and conferences.

"What motivates a person is a relationship," Murphy said. "I learned that in baseball, and I'd like to share that."

Murphy said he plans to move to Peachtree City with his wife, Nancy, where he will be near one of his eight children. He is expected to play a key role in coaching Georgia Oak’s portfolio companies on topics related to culture-building.

Lonergan acknowledged the move is similar to the announcement from Delta Air Lines Inc., which earlier this month hired seven-time NFL Super Bowl champion Tom Brady as a "long-term strategic advisor." "Elsewhere, tennis legend Serena Williams recently joined financial services consulting firm Consello as a business advisor and former NBA star Carmelo Anthony formed a $750 million private equity fund earlier this year.

"There are a lot of parallels in sports and business, mostly around culture and excellence," Lonergan said. "... Are they experts in investing? No. They are experts in success and winning and culture. And so our hope is to have more exposure of our people to Dale, and vice versa."

Georgia Oak Partners plan

Lonergan said his firm is primarily looking to invest in manufacturing, home services and business services. They want to deploy about $200 million in capital over the next five years in Georgia family-owned businesses, with typical investments ranging from $10 million to $100 million. They sometimes execute full buyouts, other times investing as as a significant minority partner.

"We are a huge believer in the reshoring of jobs and manufacturing, that all the inertia that pushed jobs overseas, including labor rates and commodity prices just are reversing," Lonergan said.

Georgia Oak in May closed on its purchase of fast-growing Artisan Custom Closets and is expanding the company's footprint in the Southeast. Lonergan eyes more opportunities to invest in companies focused on the home, which has been used in so many new ways since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The aim is to preserve the legacies for those companies, said Lonergan and Murphy — not just build the profits.

"What people remember you for is how you did it," Murphy said.

Click here to view the original article. To learn more about why Dale joined Georgia Oak, click here. For more details on Murph's new role, click here.