The Firm
A boutique built on language, trust and Florida knowledge.
Gerone & Co. is a cross-border M&A boutique, founded to serve French- and Italian-speaking European buyers and Florida owners in the lower middle market. It competes on three things: language, trust, and on-the-ground knowledge.
Two forces meeting in Florida.
A generational succession wave is under way: a majority of business owners are of retirement age, and most exits happen as closures for lack of a buyer. At the same time, European investment into Florida is accelerating, led by French and Italian entrepreneurs seeking owner-operator businesses.
Gerone & Co. sits at that intersection. Advising European acquirers and Florida owners alike builds a rare understanding of how each market values, structures and approaches a transaction. That perspective is what few local firms or foreign advisors bring.
Valerio Gerone
Valerio Gerone holds a Master in Finance from ESCP Business School, ranked first worldwide by the Financial Times in 2025, with a specialization in Corporate & Investment Banking, following a Bachelor in Economics and Business from LUISS Guido Carli in Rome.
He trained in mergers and acquisitions across three European advisory practices: ING in Brussels, and Priscus Finance and Atout Capital in Paris. His work covered valuations, information memoranda and sell-side mandates in the hospitality, food, industrial and logistics sectors that define the firm’s focus today.
A native French and Italian speaker, Belgian and Italian by nationality, he brings the language and cultural fluency that cross-border transactions require.
For European buyers
French- and Italian-speaking investors entering the Florida market. We turn an investment thesis into a focused market study, analyse the companies that fit, and support valuation, structuring and diligence, in your language, on the ground.
For Florida business owners
Owners preparing for retirement or a next chapter, in a market where most small businesses close for want of a buyer rather than being sold. We prepare and position the company, support the valuation, and advise you through a confidential process run alongside a licensed Florida broker.
The advantage of staying small.
Trilingual advisor
Led by an advisor fluent in English, French and Italian. No nuance lost.
On the ground in Florida
Based in Brickell, with local relationships a remote advisor can’t replicate.
Boutique attention
Never handed to a junior team. You work with the principal, start to finish.
Buy-side and sell-side
We advise on both sides of the market, which sharpens how we read valuation, timing and process. Each mandate is handled separately and in confidence.