Burnham Sterling & Company Research
CRITICAL FINDING: NOT AN M&A ADVISOR
Important Note: After comprehensive research, Burnham Sterling & Company is NOT an M&A advisory firm serving business sellers in the lower-middle market. This firm should likely be removed from the AdvisorIndex database or reclassified, as it does not meet the core criteria for inclusion in an M&A advisor directory.
What Burnham Sterling Actually Does
Burnham Sterling & Company LLC is a financial advisory and capital raising firm specializing in structured financing for CAPEX-intensive issuers—primarily in the aviation and energy sectors. The firm does not provide M&A advisory services, does not advise business sellers on transactions, and does not participate in business acquisitions or sales.
Core business lines:
- Capital Raising: Debt, equity, and lease placement for airlines, aircraft lessors, and energy companies
- Structured Asset Financing: Aircraft financing, lease structuring, asset-based lending
- Financial Advisory: Capital optimization, lease vs. buy analysis, investor sourcing
Business Model
Burnham Sterling operates through affiliated entities:
- Burnham Sterling & Company LLC: Non-securities financial advisory and capital raising
- Babcock & Brown Securities LLC: FINRA-registered broker-dealer (CRD# 169440) handling securities transactions
- Burnham Sterling Asset Management LLC: SEC-registered investment adviser (CRD# 283907) managing alternative investments in energy transition
The firm has positioned itself as a specialist in matching institutional capital with CAPEX-intensive industrial companies, particularly those in aviation and sustainable energy.
Client Base
Burnham Sterling's clients are Fortune Global 500 companies and institutional investors, NOT business owners seeking to sell. Representative clients mentioned on their website include Airbus, Delta Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Deutsche Post, Pratt & Whitney, and EDC. These are multinational corporations managing aircraft fleets and capital structures, not middle-market business owners.
Transaction Types
All recent transactions announced on their website are structured financing deals in the $150M-$700M range. None are M&A transactions—they are capital raise and asset financing structures worth hundreds of millions annually.
Geographic Coverage
Burnham Sterling has offices in Greenwich, Connecticut (headquarters at 29 River Road, Suite 102, Cos Cob, CT 06807) and Paris, France. They serve global clients but concentrate on companies with substantial asset bases in aviation and energy.
Team
Michael Dickey Morgan — Executive Managing Director, overseeing firm strategy and client relationships with FINRA registration (CRD# 3176778)
Joon Ho Lee — SVP Structured Finance, CFA charterholder, focused on structured financing transactions and capital raising strategy
Additional team members include corporate counsel, compliance officers, and transaction specialists, but the firm's organizational structure is focused on capital raising and structured finance, not M&A banking.
Fee Structure
Fee information is not publicly disclosed, but based on typical capital-raising models, fees are likely success-based on capital placements, advisory retainers for financial consulting, and transaction fees on lease and financing arrangements. No traditional M&A advisory fees (Lehman formula variants) are mentioned in any public materials.
Why This Firm Does Not Fit AdvisorIndex
Burnham Sterling fails to meet the core criteria for the AdvisorIndex M&A advisor directory: (1) serves Fortune 500 corporates and institutional investors, not business owners; (2) provides capital raising and structured financing, not M&A advisory; (3) handles financing structures, not business acquisitions; (4) focuses on aviation/energy CAPEX, not industrial/manufacturing/technology M&A; (5) operates as an issuer/investor intermediary, not sell-side/buy-side deal facilitator. AdvisorIndex targets business owners selling $5M-$250M companies—a demographic Burnham Sterling does not serve and could not assist.
Recommendation
Burnham Sterling & Company should be removed from the AdvisorIndex database or reclassified. The firm does not provide M&A advisory services and does not serve the target user base.