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John Signa

Founder & CEO at E78 Partners

Chicago, IL, USA

JS
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Why they matter

Built E78 Partners from scratch into a 14+ acquisition, PE-backed roll-up serving 150+ sponsors — a live playbook for accounting/finance-services consolidation.

Background

John Signa is the Founder and CEO of E78 Partners, a Chicago-based specialty consulting firm he launched in 2016 to serve the financial and operational needs of private equity firms and their portfolio companies. Before founding E78, he was a Vice President at a multi-billion-dollar PE firm and served as outsourced/interim CFO for multiple PE-backed portfolio companies ranging from $20M to $250M in revenue. He is a CPA (inactive) and Certified Valuation Analyst with a BS in Accounting and an MBA in Finance, both from Dominican University.

Notable deals

  • 2021
    Raised a growth investment from Further Global Capital Management (with debt financing from Churchill Asset Management) to accelerate E78's buy-and-build M&A strategy
  • 2021
    Led E78's acquisition of 9Gauge Partners, expanding Finance-as-a-Service capabilities
  • 2023
    Led E78's tenth acquisition, Stern Cassello & Associates, adding strategic tax consulting for alternative investment funds
  • 2024
    Led E78's acquisition of The Avail Group (its 14th deal since 2016), adding IT advisory and digital infrastructure services

Call-prep brief

John Signa — Founder & CEO, E78 Partners

Background

  • Founded E78 Partners in 2016 after serving as VP at a multi-billion-dollar PE firm and interim/outsourced CFO for several PE-backed portfolio companies.
  • CPA (inactive) and Certified Valuation Analyst; BS Accounting + MBA Finance, Dominican University.
  • Also Chairman & CEO of Benessere, a health-and-wellness administration platform for multi-site operators.

Current Focus

  • Scaling E78 via serial M&A (14+ acquisitions since 2016 — 9Gauge Partners, Stern Cassello & Associates, The Avail Group, Global PMI Partners USA, Profit Enhancement Systems, among others), backed by a 2021 growth investment from Further Global Capital Management.
  • Nearly 500 employees, serving 150+ PE sponsors and enterprise clients (Nike, Patagonia, Williams-Sonoma).

What He Cares About

  • Value creation for PE portfolio companies via outsourced finance/accounting functions ("finance-as-a-service").
  • Building an integrated platform (advisory + managed services + talent) rather than a single-service shop.
  • Culture/entrepreneurial fit when integrating acquired firms (repeatedly emphasized in deal press releases).

Recent Moves

  • 2023: 10th acquisition, Stern Cassello & Associates (tax consulting).
  • 2024: Acquired The Avail Group, pushing into IT advisory — a notable adjacency move beyond core finance/accounting.

Potential Sensitivities

  • Deal terms are never disclosed publicly — expect reticence on valuation/EBITDA multiples.
  • Further Global's ownership stake and any timeline toward a sponsor exit/recap are unconfirmed and likely sensitive.

Questions to Ask

  1. How do you evaluate and price tuck-in acquisitions like Avail Group or Stern Cassello — what's the integration playbook?
  2. What's Further Global's current involvement/board role, and is E78 exploring a next capital event?
  3. Which service lines (tax, IT advisory, FaaS) are you prioritizing for the next 2-3 acquisitions?

Outreach draft

Subject
Your roll-up playbook at E78 Partners
Hi John, I've been following E78's growth since the Further Global investment — 14+ acquisitions in under a decade, from 9Gauge to The Avail Group, is a rare track record in the PE-services space. We're a deal team currently evaluating opportunities in accounting and finance-services roll-ups, and your experience building an integrated advisory/managed-services/talent platform from scratch is exactly the perspective we'd value. Would you be open to a 20-30 minute call to share how you think about acquisition targets, integration, and where the finance-as-a-service model is headed? Happy to work around your schedule. Best, [Your Name]

Linked companies

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