Portage Point Partners, a business advisory, interim management and financial services firm, launched a transaction advisory services (TAS) practice. The TAS practice will be led by industry veterans Travis Pittman and Sandy Ryan who will be responsible for the growth and development of the new practice from offices in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles and New York.

Pittman brings 25 years of transaction experience, having most recently served as managing director and co-founder of Houlihan Lokey’s transaction advisory services practice. While at Houlihan Lokey, Pittman was responsible for service innovation, client development and market strategy.

Ryan brings 20 years of experience in mergers and acquisition advisory and due diligence, including a decade with Houlihan Lokey where he led the Business Services TAS practice. Together, they will build a TAS franchise within the broader Portage Point business advisory platform designed to serve the unique requirements of sponsors and lenders in their diligence, acquisition and investment periods. Pittman will be based in Dallas, while Ryan will be based in Los Angeles.

“The launch of our new TAS practice capitalizes on the need for experienced, proven advisory experts serving the middle market,” Matthew Ray, founder and managing partner of Portage Point, said. “Under the leadership of Travis and Sandy, Portage Point will expand our client service capabilities across the business and investment lifecycle, while leveraging our combined advisory expertise within an array of integrated practice areas. We are strongly committed to investing in proven senior leaders like Travis and Sandy who remain integral to our relentless focus on client service and long-term value creation.”

“Portage Point is a premier advisory platform, one whose distinguished track record of value creation across a diverse base of industry-leading clients is highly regarded within the markets we serve,” Pittman said. “With the formal launch of our TAS practice, Portage Point will further expand its advisory solutions capability to support client requirements throughout the investment continuum. By leveraging our sector specializations and transaction expertise across TAS, corporate finance, performance improvement, interim management and restructuring, Portage Point is uniquely positioned to drive superior outcomes from pre-investment to value maximization to monetization.”