Sheon Karol Joins West Lane Partners as Senior Advisor

June 11, 2025 at 10:00 AM EDT

--News Direct--

West Lane Partners, a private equity firm focused on special situations in middle market companies spanning healthcare, tech, financial services and industrials, is pleased to announce that Sheon Karol, a nationally recognized investment banker and restructuring advisor, has joined the firm as a Senior Advisor.

Mr. Karol brings over three decades of experience in investment banking, restructuring, and senior corporate leadership, with deep expertise in complex M&A, capital raises, and operational turnarounds. Skilled in de-risking situations, he brings a flexible yet disciplined approach that favors iterative decision-making over rigid or binary choices. His ability to surface a range of strategic options, often under pressure, has made him a trusted advisor to owners navigating both opportunity and uncertainty. His contributions to the field have earned national recognition, including the “Boutique Investment Banker of the Year” award from the Atlas Awards.

“Sheon and I have been in the trenches together on complex deals. He’s masterful at aligning stakeholders, cutting through noise, and adapting in real time to keep transactions on course. Where others see roadblocks, he sees possibility—and responds with clarity and flexibility,” said Deryck Palmer, Founder and Managing Partner at West Lane Partners. “His dynamic approach, experience, and deep market insight into the industries on which we’re focused, and an instinct for what owners value most, makes him an exceptional addition to our firm.”

“I think of the middle market as the river less fished” said Mr. Karol. “Middle market companies are often overlooked, undercapitalized, and underserved by institutional talent. At West Lane Partners, our focus on investments between $25 million and $75 million is about more than deal size—it’s about bringing high-caliber insight to businesses at pivotal moments and tailoring strategic options to match the evolving goals of owners and the realities of the market. The result is not just getting deals done, but generating long-term value others might miss.”

Mr. Palmer added, “I’ve always been impressed by Sheon’s expertise, creativity, positivity and determination to get the best for his clients. These qualities enable him to inexorably bring difficult situations to their best possible conclusion and there are few who bring such capabilities to the middle market.”

About Sheon Karol

Mr. Karol has advised on high-stakes transactions across a myriad of industries in the middle market, including manufacturing, biotech, pharma, for-profit education, medical research, agriculture, consumer goods, food & grocery, sports, and technology.

Mr. Karol has successfully executed a wide range of strategic transactions, including M&A advisory, capital raises, and restructurings, for both healthy and distressed businesses and their stakeholders. He has also served in executive capacities, including as Chief Restructuring Officer of a $1 billion company, for which he renegotiated the company's debt and avoided a bankruptcy filing. Many of Mr. Karol’s transactions, including Violin Memory and Peekay Boutiques, have won awards. He served as SVP of Winn-Dixie and managed the company's sale of assets in excess of $200 million and the disposition of 326 stores (in a 90-day period); guided the auction and sale of Farmland’s nitrogen fertilizer business that exceeded the “stalking horse” bid by $25 million; advised the CRO in the sale of the Texas Rangers baseball team; and advised foreign buyers in their U.S. expansion. Trustee positions include the Violin Memory and Lily Robotics Trusts.

A middle market M&A thought leader, he writes and lectures widely, including on entrepreneurship, auction theory, sale processes, the middle market and foreign buyers. He holds FINRA SIE, Series 63 and Series 79 certifications.

Mr. Karol received a J.D. from Yale Law School and a B.A. from Yeshiva College.

About West Lane Partners

West Lane Partners is a private equity firm whose senior leadership has over 150 years of collective restructuring and private equity experience working with underperforming, stressed and distressed companies across a range of industries in both large cap and middle market companies. In addition to providing capital, the firm combines decades of restructuring, private equity, legal and financial expertise to collaborate with management in developing and executing bespoke solutions that deliver mutually beneficial outcomes.