Our Story

In the Beginning

In 1982, Jim Freedman led business development for an asset-based lender that financed entrepreneurial middle-market companies in Southern California. He noticed that his clients’ value was often defined by attributes built by an entrepreneurial passion and often far exceeded the levels set by widely accepted metrics.

Intimidated by the unfamiliar world of corporate M&A, these entrepreneurs often hired “establishment” investment banks. These advisors were large Wall Street firms who ran “conventional” sale processes that often failed to grasp the “uniqueness” of their clients.

Jim founded Barrington Associates, Intrepid’s predecessor, by adopting a different approach to helping middle-market entrepreneurs realize their companies’ full exit potential.

Joining Forces

Jim was joined by Mike Rosenberg in 1985 and Ed Bagdasarian in 1989. Together, they built a lasting legacy and a reputation as the go-to sell-side M&A investment bank in Southern California. Over the next two decades, Barrington grew into one of the most respected M&A advisory firms to middle-market companies in the U.S.

Realizing An Exit

In 2006, Wells Fargo Securities acquired Barrington to serve as its principal M&A advisory arm and help it expand into middle-market investment banking.

Entrepreneurial Roots

In June 2010, seven of the senior partners at Barrington decided to return to their entrepreneurial roots and a mission to create a unique advisory firm that brings a different approach to middle-market investment banking.

With three decades of experience, the partners formed Intrepid Investment Bankers to deliver the same creativity, commitment and savvy that their clients used in building their own companies.

Intrepid bankers understand that the value of a middle-market company lies in the magic of its culture, its innovative spirit and its unique attributes. These values are not always reflected in the traditional metrics that define the worth of larger, more mature companies.

Expanding Service Capabilities

MUFG Union Bank completed the acquisition of Intrepid Investment Bankers LLC, expanding the bank’s client service capabilities to offer mergers and acquisitions and capital markets advisory services, and delivering a unique value proposition to business owners and middle-market companies. Intrepid began working in close partnership with the bank’s Commercial Banking and Wealth Markets groups.

Intrepid and MUFG

Intrepid operates as a member of MUFG (Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group), one of the largest and most prominent financial institutions in the world, with a rich history and extensive global footprint.​

Our own entrepreneurial roots and relationship-driven philosophy, combined with MUFG’s reach and liquidity, unlocks the best of both worlds for our clients: human-centric investment banking at a global scale.

Access to MUFG’s vast network allows Intrepid’s bankers to customize the unique resources, infrastructure, and expertise each business requires.