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Gordon Mackay

Managing Director, Transportation & Logistics Group at Capstone Partners

New York, NY

GM
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Why they matter

As Capstone's Transportation & Logistics group head, he sees nearly every freight brokerage and 3PL sell-side mandate in the market before it's widely known.

Background

Gordon Mackay is a Managing Director and Group Head of Capstone Partners' Transportation & Logistics investment banking team, with more than 20 years of experience and over $30 billion of completed M&A and capital-raising transactions. He began his career at JPMorgan before moving through UBS and Citigroup, and later led the M&A advisory practice at BG Strategic Advisors, a boutique bank focused on logistics and supply chain, prior to joining Capstone. He holds an MBA from Duke University and a BA from Case Western Reserve University.

Notable deals

  • 2026
    Led Capstone's advisory of Thermo King dealer CSTK on its sale to Trane Technologies
  • 2025
    Advised Stewart Transport, a regional freight carrier, on creating an ESOP
  • 2024
    Advised Supreme Auto Transport on a 75% equity investment from Nikkon Holdings
  • 2023
    Advised A&M Cold Storage on its sale to WillScot Mobile Mini Holdings

Call-prep brief

Background

  • MD and Group Head, Transportation & Logistics at Capstone Partners (NY); 20+ years in IB, $30B+ in closed transactions.
  • Career path: JPMorgan → UBS → Citigroup → BG Strategic Advisors (logistics-focused boutique) → Capstone.
  • MBA, Duke University; BA, Case Western Reserve.

Current Focus

  • Runs sell-side and capital-raise mandates across freight brokerage, asset-based trucking, cold storage/temp-controlled logistics, and logistics technology.
  • Recently closed CSTK/Trane Technologies (Feb 2026), Stewart Transport ESOP (2025), Supreme Auto Transport/Nikkon (2024), and A&M Cold Storage/WillScot (2023).

What He Cares About

  • Businesses "integrating the analog and digital realms", asset-heavy logistics operators adopting tech/data capabilities.
  • Founder-led, family-owned freight and specialty transport businesses nearing a liquidity or succession event.

Sensitivities

  • Deal-flow intelligence is his stock-in-trade; he won't discuss active mandates or client identities without an NDA.
  • As a banker (not a lawyer, despite any archetype tagging), his read is market/valuation-driven, not legal/regulatory, calibrate questions accordingly.

Questions to Ask

  1. What's driving current valuation multiples and buyer appetite for regional freight brokers and asset-based carriers right now?
  2. Which subsegments (cold chain, auto transport, LTL) are seeing the most strategic buyer interest versus PE interest?
  3. What operational/tech diligence red flags most often kill freight brokerage deals in his experience?

Outreach draft

Subject
Freight brokerage market perspective, quick call?
Hi Gordon, I've been following Capstone's transportation and logistics work, including the CSTK/Trane deal and the Stewart Transport ESOP, impressive run of closings in the freight and cold-chain space. I'm on a deal team evaluating opportunities in freight brokerage and 3PL, and would value your read on where valuations and buyer appetite stand right now, particularly for founder-owned regional carriers and brokers. Would you have 20 minutes in the next week or two for a brief call? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Linked companies

Sources