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David Kakareka

Managing Director at Balmoral Advisors

Chicago, Illinois, United States

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Why they matter

Nearly two decades running lower-middle-market M&A in industrials and building products gives Kakareka a live read on valuation gaps, buyer appetite, and add-on deal activity in the sector.

Background

David Kakareka is a Managing Director at Balmoral Advisors, a Chicago-based middle-market investment bank he joined in January 2024. He spent the prior 16+ years at Jordan Knauff & Company, rising from analyst to managing director and running M&A and private-placement mandates across building products, industrials, chemicals, food & beverage, and business services. He holds a BS in Finance from Eastern Illinois University and an MBA in Finance and Economics from Loyola University Chicago.

Notable deals

  • 2013
    Advised on the sale of Dynapower Company, LLC to Pfingsten Partners while at Jordan Knauff & Company — recognized as Energy Services & Manufacturing Deal of the Year
  • 2018
    Named to Top 50: America's Rising Dealmakers by the Global M&A Network, then serving as VP at Jordan Knauff & Company
  • 2024
    Joined Balmoral Advisors as Managing Director, expanding the firm's M&A and private capital-raise coverage in building products and industrials
  • 2025
    Featured in Balmoral's M&A Insights Series discussing valuation-gap dynamics and deal structuring in middle-market industrials and building products

Call-prep brief

# Dave Kakareka — Call Prep Brief

Background

  • Managing Director at Balmoral Advisors (Chicago), joined January 2024
  • Spent 16+ years at Jordan Knauff & Company (JKC), rising from analyst to MD; JKC and Balmoral maintain a strategic alliance
  • BS Finance, Eastern Illinois University; MBA Finance & Economics, Loyola University Chicago
  • Named Emerging Leader by The M&A Advisor (2017) and Top 50 Rising Dealmaker by the Global M&A Network (2018)

Current focus

  • Sell-side M&A and private capital raises for lower-middle-market companies in building products, industrials, business services, chemicals, and food & beverage
  • In an April 2025 interview, flagged a persistent valuation gap: sellers anchored on high multiples, buyers cautious on leverage, bridged via earnouts, seller notes, and rollover equity
  • Sees PE capital rotating toward smaller add-ons ($10-50M range) and asset-light, contract-based service models amid tariff uncertainty

What he cares about

  • Structuring deals that de-risk buyers without leaving sellers underpaid
  • Positioning building-products and industrial clients ahead of tariff-driven demand shifts

Potential sensitivities

  • Long tenure at a competing shop (JKC) before Balmoral — may be circumspect about former colleagues or clients
  • Any live sell-side mandates are confidential; expect market color rather than named targets

Questions to ask

  1. Which building-products subsectors are seeing the most add-on activity right now, and where is the bid-ask spread widest?
  2. How are buyers structuring earnouts and rollovers differently than 12 months ago given tariff uncertainty?
  3. What separates a distribution business that clears a premium multiple from one that stalls at LOI?

Outreach draft

Subject
Building Products M&A Insight — Quick Call?
Hi Dave, I came across your recent comments on middle-market valuation gaps and building products M&A and wanted to reach out. I'm [Placeholder Name], part of a deal team doing diligence in the building products distribution space. Given your run at Jordan Knauff and now at Balmoral advising both buyers and sellers across industrials and building products, I'd value 20 minutes to get your read on where multiples and deal structures are heading, and which subsectors are seeing the most add-on activity right now. Happy to work around your schedule — would next week work for a short call? Best, [Placeholder Name]

Sources