Emory Oak Partners has launched its operationally focused, technology-driven investment firm specializing in real estate and service industry business equity and enhanced credit strategies, today announced the launch of its business. The firm will leverage its proprietary technology and digital strategies — including data analytics, machine learning and artificial intelligence — as well as its deep institutional and operational expertise to seek to identify and execute equity investments in Class B and C multifamily and mixed-use properties across emerging secondary and tertiary markets. It also will seek equity and debt investments in service industry companies with concentrations in industries such as pest control, commercial janitorial and more.
Emory Oak is led by Managing Partner, Chief Investment Officer and Co-CEO Kade Thomas, and Co-CEO and General Counsel Marty Meekins. Thomas and Meekins are backed by a dedicated team of over 15 investment professionals, who will combine their investing, risk management, operations and technology expertise to source, build and manage a portfolio of undervalued real estate assets, service industry companies and credit investments that the firm believes have tremendous upside potential.
“We are proud to formally launch Emory Oak at a time when we believe macroeconomic conditions, demographic trends and monetary policy have created the ideal investment conditions for us to unlock value in often-neglected sub-sectors of real estate outside of central business districts,” said Thomas. “We look forward to leveraging our thesis-based approach, investor-operator-technologist mindset and proprietary data and analytics to capitalize on the attractive pipeline of opportunities we are seeing across real estate equity and service company-related enhanced credit strategies, and to drive results for new and existing investors.”
The launch of Emory Oak builds upon the founding team’s track record of executing over $250 million in real estate transactions throughout the course of their careers. Emory Oak currently manages two distinct strategies: an equity strategy focused on under-entitled multifamily and mixed-use real estate projects, and an enhanced credit strategy focused on service industry companies. To date, Emory Oak has driven growth in several service businesses by adopting institutional business management practices and re-imagining the entire business model with a technology-driven approach to customer acquisition and experience, including digitization, data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence.
“Emerging technologies like AI and machine learning have the power to upend business models and entire industries today. We believe there is a large, untapped opportunity for Emory Oak to serve as a likeminded partner to borrowers, harnessing data and technology to disrupt service industry companies with dated business models and to capitalize on undervalued sub-sectors of real estate,” Meekins added. “We are confident that our expertise and proprietary analytics will allow us to innovate and make better decisions regarding market fundamentals, valuations, consumer preferences, marketing, and business operations, which in turn, will enhance outcomes for our clients and partners.”
