Mason Wells:
New Midwest Private Equity Site Focuses on Putting People First

Mason Wells is a Milwaukee-based private equity firm that has raised $2.4 billion in aggregate across five independent buyout funds. The firm partners with the founders, families, and managers of primarily Midwestern US-based businesses to help them realize their financial potential while preserving the company’s legacy. Mason Wells’ longstanding approach to private equity revolves around the investment it makes in people, the enduring partnerships it builds with management teams, and the deep network of industry resources it provides. The Mason Wells website, which MVP originally designed in 2016, along with updating the firm’s corporate identity, was holding its own but in light of the surge in new private equity websites post-pandemic, the managing partners sought to upgrade the site’s form and functionality to be as good, if not better, than the competition. Given MVP’s longstanding Most Valuable Partner relationship with the firm, which has included providing website hosting, maintenance and security since the former site’s launch, Mason Wells turned to MVP for a new and vibrant website overhaul.

Mason Wells is committed to “creating enduring value by putting people first for over 25 years.” To fulfill business, marketing and design objectives, MVP responded with a homepage Milwaukee flyover video that uses portco team imagery to demonstrate that this private equity firm does “not just buy businesses but invests in people.” Distinctively departing from its competitors, the site utilizes a full-screen approach with plenty of white space to showcase key content, e.g., dynamic deal statistics, portfolio company success stories and latest news. A new and more interactive hamburger-style menu simplifies navigation and prompts visitors to check out investment criteria (by Investment parameters for platform and tuck-in acquisitions), portfolio companies (by sector, fund and those seeking add-on acquisitions), news and contact, as well as a CTA to download the MVP-redesigned Summary Overview PDF. Further, to add impact to the Strategy section, an interactive map not only enables visitors to view the disposition of Mason Wells’ investments but to examine a camo portco overview with more detailed company information.

While the site has many new and innovative form and functionality features, including active content, accordion blocks, and hover reveals, MVP notably produced 11 CEO testimonial videos that enliven each of their respective case histories. While attending the client’s annual portfolio company meeting, MVP interviewed and videoed each of Mason Wells’ “portco-pros,” who recounted the specialized tools and techniques they used to realize their own custom-tailored value creation plans (VCPs) to achieve their respective—and often astounding—exit value multiples. Following the shoot, MVP added post-production effects including sound, titles, animated graphics, and charts to help each of the CEO stories resonate with the “Proven. Disciplined and Forthright Approach,” that has characterized Mason Wells’ “Private Equity, Midwest Integrity” appeal to business owners, executive operating partners and intermediaries for over 25 years.

“Fantastic. Looks great. Big day for the firm. Thank you again for all the work from the MVP team.”

Jay Radtke, Senior Managing Director