Thrive Spotlight: Zach Des Marais – Director, Corporate Finance & Development

Welcome back to another installment of our “Thrive Spotlight” blog series. 

Our featured employee is Zach Des Marais, Director, Corporate Finance & Development.  Throughout Zach’s 7 years at Thrive, his role has greatly transformed.  Currently, his team is responsible for overseeing all of Thrive’s strategic finance/M&A activity.  They are directly involved with all aspects of acquisitions including sourcing, valuation, and managing diligence.  Zach has been involved in 20 out of 23 acquisitions, which has been very exciting for him.   

Zach lives in Foxborough, MA and works out of our Foxborough office.  Outside of deciding which acquisition will come next, Zach likes to go golfing, skiing, and spending time on the water with his wife, their new son Jackson, and dog, Archie.  Zach is also a big Boston sports fan.  

Hi Zach!  Can you tell us about your background and how you came to Thrive?  

I was working in Private Equity consulting and wanted to move into corporate development with a growing company.  I had initially interviewed with Thrive when they were in their old Norwood office, but they were in the middle of an acquisition at the time, so I didn’t end up joining until a few months later.  I stayed in touch with Rob Stephenson and Jay Adams, and when the time was right, I came back and interviewed and ended up joining Thrive that day.  

Where did you go to school or get training?  

I attended Bentley University in Waltham, MA and studied Economics-Finance and Quantitative Perspectives (applied math).  

What do you most enjoy about working for Thrive?  

The people!  Whenever we are talking to a potential acquisition, the first thing I bring up is our amazing team and culture.  I am very fortunate that I get to work with an awesome group of people that are dedicated to growing Thrive into the best MSP in the world!  

Are there any recent exciting projects at Thrive you can tell us about?  

Last year, we closed on our first acquisition in the Carolinas, The Longleaf Network, based out of Greensboro, NC.  We had been talking with their team for a while, so it was great to finally get it over the finish line.  It was also our second shortest diligence process ever, going from signed LOI to close in just 34 days. 

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