ACME Partners Launches Brightpath Advisory With Investment in Clearline Consulting

DALLAS (November 6, 2025) — ACME Partners, a growth-oriented private equity firm, today announced the launch of Brightpath Advisory, a governance, risk, and compliance advisory platform, with its investment in Clearline Consulting. The transaction marks the first platform investment from ACME's seventh fund.

Clearline Consulting is a founder-led compliance advisory firm serving regulated middle-market companies across financial services, healthcare, and energy. Built over fifteen years on long-tenured client relationships and deep regulatory expertise, Clearline has become the trusted first call for clients navigating an increasingly complex compliance landscape.

“We had plenty of options, and we chose the partner who understood that our people and our client relationships are the entire business,” said the co-founders of Clearline Consulting in a joint statement. “ACME's plan builds on what we do well and gives our team a bigger platform to grow into. We could not be more excited about what comes next.”

Regulatory complexity continues to compound for middle-market companies, and the advisory market that serves them remains deeply fragmented — conditions well suited to a national buy-and-build strategy. Brightpath will pursue acquisitions of founder-led advisory firms in adjacent disciplines and geographies, supported by investments in a dedicated M&A function, a professional go-to-market engine, and shared services infrastructure from ACME's Portfolio Resource Group.

“Compliance advisory has everything we look for: recurring client relationships, a mission-critical service, and thousands of excellent small firms with no clear national leader,” said Jordan Avery, Managing Partner at ACME Partners. “Clearline is a superb foundation, and Brightpath gives its team — and the founders who join us from here — a platform worthy of their ambitions.”

ABOUT ACME PARTNERS

ACME Partners is a growth-oriented private equity firm focused on building world-class business and consumer services companies in the lower middle market. With more than $2.5 billion in assets under management, ACME provides the strategic guidance, operational resources, and capital that founder-led companies need to accelerate growth and build market-leading platforms. For more information, contact ir@acmepartners.example.