Our History
Allegiance Capital was founded in November 1998 by the late David J. Mahmood, a seasoned investment banker and serial entrepreneur. David’s goal was to create an investment bank that would provide middle-market companies with the same level of senior-level financial and analytical expertise that, traditionally, only larger corporations had access to, as well as to provide an exceptional degree of insight, due to many of the team members’ background as former business owners and presidents.
Having already founded and built seven businesses from scratch, David had personal experience in the business of acquiring, merging, financing and selling businesses. Having interacted with numerous financial services organizations and professionals he knew there was a better way, and he set out to create it. However, prior to starting Allegiance Capital, he visited with and analyzed many similar domestic and international M&A advisory firms to get a broader perspective of the market and to identify best practices, as he sought to develop an even better business model, with a specific focus on privately owned, family-owned, and closely held businesses.
Over the years’ we’ve helped business owners sell all or portions of their companies, locate capital partners, and raise capital to grow their business or buy out a competitor. In addition to representing clients located in the U.S., Allegiance Capital has served businesses in Mexico, Canada and the Caribbean, and has negotiated the sale of companies to buyers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. We leverage our worldwide network of investment banks to stay current on regional economic conditions and optimally market our client’s companies.
After leading the company for over 20 years, David’s health got the best of him and after a lengthy illness he passed away in April of 2018. David’s wife, Connie, who had worked in the loan origination group at Barclays Business Credit had been doing marketing and business development work for the bank. Her tenure there provide the perfect match of contacts and referral sources needed for a new middle market investment bank. So when David decided to start his eighth company from scratch, he called upon Connie for some assistance in a space she had become very familiar with. It was supposed to be a short-term assignment – something on the order of six months to a year to help set up the office and get things rolling. Knowing the companies in this space led to Connie doing business development with various industry organizations including with the Association for Corporate Growth where she held all board positions including president of the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter. Her activity with these organizations helped establish Allegiance Capital as an up and coming investment banking company. Connie was also served as secretary treasurer for many years. This short-term assignment has turned into a career of 22+ years!
Over the years Connie has been recognized by the business community for her involvement and achievements. In 2009, she was named as one of the women by the Dallas Business Journal to the “Women in Business Awards” Changemakers & Women to Watch, in 2019 D CEO recognized her as one of the 2019 Dallas 500 and named one of the “The Most Powerful Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth” by D CEO, again in 2019 D CEO featured Connie in the D CEO Persona edition for her “Persona in Style”.
Having been at Allegiance since its inception, and not being a stranger to this marketplace, Connie has a firm of understanding the needs of Allegiance, and continually strives to improve the processes used to meet or exceed our client’s expectations. Our client’s testimonials speak to the lengths our bankers go to in order to provide our clients with the exceptional service they deserve. We understand what it means to be a family business as we are a family business founded by an entrepreneur who had a vision to improve how a new investment bank could offer the same quality services of the large banks to closely-held family businesses just like ours.
As we look down the road to the next chapter of Allegiance without our founder, Connie’s leadership in this transition will provide new opportunities to grow and build on David’s legacy and helping the business become even stronger. We look forward to the opportunity to continue to work with new clients and helping them get to what comes next for them.