Brown Gibbons Lang & Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Investment banking |
| Founded | September 1989 |
| Founder | Michael Gibbons, Kevin Brown |
| Headquarters | Cleveland , United States |
Area served | Middle market (United States) |
Key people | Scott Lang (former CEO) |
| Products | Mergers and acquisitions advisory, real estate investment banking |
Brown Gibbons Lang & Company (BGL) is a U.S.-based investment bank serving the middle market, with its main office located in Cleveland, Ohio.
History
Michael Gibbons founded a private equity firm in Ohio in September 1989 alongside architect Kevin Brown. Tragically, Brown passed away just six weeks later, prompting Gibbons to pivot toward investment banking. He drew upon his background at McDonald & Co. and implemented a similar partnership model at BGL.
In 1995, BGL grew by establishing a second branch in Chicago, led by Scott Lang, who eventually became CEO and held that position until 2007.
Following the aftermath of the Great Recession after 2010, BGL expanded its services beyond mergers and acquisitions by launching a real estate investment banking division. This group has overseen projects including the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the DoubleTree hotel in Youngstown.
The firm moved its headquarters to One Cleveland Center in 2014. Since then, BGL has increased its industry coverage to encompass sectors such as industrials, environmental services, healthcare, and consumer goods. Additionally, it broadened its geographic presence with new offices opened in Los Angeles and New York City in 2022.
Notable deals
Michael Gibbons pursued political office as a Republican candidate in the 2018 United States Senate election in Ohio and again in the 2022 United States Senate election in Ohio. During his 2022 campaign, The Cincinnati Enquirer revealed that Gibbons held a $2.8 million investment in Lordstown Motors. Subsequently, BGL advised Lordstown Motors on a reverse merger with SPAC DiamondPeak Holdings, facilitating the company's NASDAQ debut on October 23, 2020. The stock value dropped sharply within months amid a federal investigation into overstated order volumes and concerns about the company's sustainability. Analysts pointed to a possible conflict of interest, suggesting Gibbons had motivation to expedite Lordstown’s public listing to avoid illiquid private shares. Gibbons refuted these allegations, explaining that he acquired his shares during an earlier funding round and was not involved in decisions related to the SPAC transaction. Nevertheless, a late 2020 Lordstown Motors SEC filing confirmed that BGL acted as financial advisor for the merger.
Other major transactions handled by BGL include the sale of Ben Venue Laboratories to Boehringer Ingelheim, the divestiture of Realty One to Insignia Financial Group, and financing arrangements for redevelopment projects at the Glenn Research Center.