experience
Bowman/Hanson Principals all have over 20+ years in M&A with transaction experience that spans North America, Europe, China, and Australia. When you engage with Bowman Hanson you engage with Kris and Eric, we are responsible, accountable, and accessible.
What distinguishes us from other M&A firms is we take a long-term view when building relationships with our clients. It is not unusual for us to spend years advising clients on strategy, direction, positioning and execution.
Meet the Team
Kris Karlson
Kris formed Bowman/Hanson in 1996 to create a more efficient marketplace for sellers, buyers, and financiers of privately held middle-market companies. Kris, who had more than a decade of experience buying, selling, and financing companies, was disillusioned with the standard intermediary model.
Kris had witnessed too many dashed hopes, broken deals, and misguided valuation expectations, and an overall lack of professionalism. In search of a better way to execute deals, Kris theorized that straight-talking professional advisors versus fast-talking intermediaries were long overdue for the industry. Bowman/Hanson was born with a vision for deals with the end in mind.
Eric J. Bergman
Eric brings to Bowman/Hanson a depth of experience in business management, valuation, merger and acquisition, post-merger integration, and commercial real estate investing.
Eric offers an entrepreneurial perspective in working with both private and large publicly held companies, implementing business acquisition, new product launches, and business development. Eric’s experience has given him a keen ability to recognize market trends, customer needs, and implement strategies to capitalize on profitable business development initiatives.
Cole Van Brunt
Cole was raised in Marin and graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 2017 with a degree in Sustainable Engineering and Entrepreneurship. He joined Bowman/Hanson in early 2019, bringing expertise in business development, business management, financial modeling, and valuation analysis.
Cole has buy-side and sell-side experience with both private middle-market companies and large publicly traded corporations. He enjoys the fulfillment that comes with helping entrepreneurs achieve their M&A goals.
Mary Johnson
Mary has worked in Invest Banking for over ten years and has extensive experience in financial modeling, due diligence, and Confidential Information Memorandums. She has worked on a wide variety of transactions, including leveraged buyouts, IPOs, and private equity investments.