Private Equity and Enhanced Credit Investment Strategies Fueled by Technology Will Seek to Capitalize on Real Estate and Service Industry Business Opportunities in Emerging U.S. Cities

Co-CEOs Bring Combined 40+ Years of Leadership Experience Across Institutional Operations, Technology Innovation, and Investment Management

Will Leverage Investor-Operator-Technologist Mindset and a Thesis-Based Approach to Deliver Better Decisions and Outcomes for Clients and Partners

AUSTIN, Texas, March 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Emory Oak Partners (“Emory Oak“), an 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, as well as 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. Messrs. Thomas and Meekins are backed by a dedicated team of over 15 investment professionals, who will combine their significant 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 Mr. 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 multi-family 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.

Mr. Meekins added, “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. 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.”

About the Co-CEOs

Mr. Kade Thomas serves as Emory Oak’s Managing Partner, Co-Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Investment Officer. He has nearly a decade of investment and operations experience in real estate, operating companies, public equity markets, and credit strategies, having previously led or co-led 11 investment funds focused on real estate, real estate-related essential service companies, and credit. Earlier in his career, Mr. Thomas acquired a commercial landscape construction business as owner-operator and grew the company’s top-line revenue by more than 1,000 percent. Mr. Thomas currently serves on the Real Estate Center Executive Advisory Council for The University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, on the university’s Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council and DKR Advisory Board, and on the board of directors for Ronald McDonald House Charities. In coordination with the launch of Emory Oak, he founded the Emory Oak Initiative for Financial Literacy to promote financial literacy skills for company personnel and student-athletes at the university. Mr. Thomas graduated with highest honors from The University of Texas at Austin with bachelor’s degrees in business and finance.

Mr. Marty Meekins serves as Emory Oak’s Co-Chief Executive Officer and General Counsel. He has over 25 years of financial strategy, business management, technology, and legal affairs experience, having most recently served for more than a decade as Partner, Chief Operating Officer, and General Counsel at a large multi-strategy investment manager. Mr. Meekins previously served in various legal roles at financial services and investment firms focused on digital strategies, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and finance transactions, and complex regulatory matters, among others. Mr. Meekins is an active advisor at The University of Texas at Austin, including as Co-Chair of the McCombs School of Business Center for Leadership and Ethics Executive Advisory Council, which includes the AI and machine learning-focused Business of Sports Institute. He is also a member of the McCombs School of Business Real Estate Center’s Executive Advisory Council and the Dean’s Advisory Council for the College of Liberal Arts. Mr. Meekins graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in Plan II Honors and obtained his Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin’s School of Law and McCombs School of Business, respectively.

About Emory Oak Partners

Founded by Kade Thomas and co-managed by Mr. Thomas and Marty Meekins, Emory Oak Partners is an operationally-focused, technology-driven investment firm specializing in real estate and service industry business equity and enhanced credit strategies. Based in Austin, Texas, the firm seeks to deliver strong returns by investing in value-based, often disregarded real estate assets, strategically innovating businesses with technology and operational best practices, and directly managing businesses and properties to maximize profitability. For more information, please visit: www.emoryoak.com. 

SOURCE Emory Oak Partners