With more than 20 years of experience in providing transaction advisory and financial consulting services, it’s no wonder Bob Kipps is the managing director of a leading investment banking firm. KippsDeSanto & Co., headquartered in McLean, VA, provides customized investment banking for growing, mid-sized companies in sectors such as cybersecurity, intelligence, health information technology, aerospace/defense and government services. KippsDeSanto’s bankers have advised on over 100 transactions, totaling more than $10 billion in value.
Since working as a financial and transaction adviser, Kipps has fine-tuned his expertise in areas like defense and IT M&A transactions. Over the years, Kipps has advised such companies as High Performance Technology, CenTauri Solutions, Oberon Associates and Argon ST.
After graduating in 1989 with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce from the McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, Kipps went on to work for Peterson Consulting and Tucker Alan. There he advised companies that dealt with aerospace/defense, engineering, construction, and information technology.
Prior to founding KippsDeSanto, Kipps was the managing director for the Houlihan Lokey office in DC. He was also a leader of Houlihan Lokey’s Aerospace∙Defense∙Government industry investment banking group.
All of Kipps’ hard work, and many years devoted to investment banking, recently paid off. In 2007 the Association for Corporate Growth’s National Capital Chapter recognized him as the Dealmaker of the Year – Investment Banker. In addition to working at the firm he founded, Kipps also sits on the board of Directors of the Information Systems Laboratories, a San Diego-based C4ISR firm, and the National Capital Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth.
Kipps is also a guest columnist for WashingtonExec, specifically covering the large M&A landscape changes facing the government contracting community: That Was Then, This Is Now.
“When HPTi went looking for a Investment Banker to represent us, we wanted someone who had the same instincts in entrepreneurship that we did. In Bob Kipps we found the perfect mix of entrepreneur and rock star investment banker.” -Timothy P. Keenan, CEO of High Performance Technologies, Inc.
“At HPTi, we can not be happier with the service and support from Bob and the KippsDeSanto team. Bob and his team provided specific useful advice on how to best present ourselves in the market. They coached us on improving our presentation. Bob successfully managed the buyers expectations, and with Kevin DeSanto managed our expectations as the sellers. Bob and his due diligence team led by Jon Yim seemlessly managed the process ensuring data was accessible and accurate. Most importantly, we are very happy with the results.” -Bill Milligan, CFO of HPTi