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September 20, 2019
ScaleCo Strives To Change The PE Model
By Mark Scott
Brendan Anderson launched ScaleCo to be more of a partner in scaling lower-middle-market businesses, using a permanent capital investment model to develop sustainable growth platform companies.
September 20, 2019
Hugh Cathey: Smart Fundraising Requires Monitoring Market
Serial entrepreneur Hugh Cathey, now on his ninth startup with genetic testing company ChromoCare, shares his best practices for raising capital.
September 19, 2019
How Blockchain Could Impact Commercial Real Estate Investing
The future of dealmaking, specifically in the commercial real estate market, is in blockchain technology, says Inveniam Capital Partners’ Patrick O’Meara.
September 13, 2019
VillageMD’s Tim Barry: Investors Want To Give You Money
The co-founder and CEO of the healthcare management services company talks about his strategy when raising capital and the importance of establishing an ongoing dialogue with potential investors.
September 13, 2019
John McInerney On Finding The Right Deal Partners
M&A veteran John McInerney talks about his experience selling Keystone Printed Specialties and what it taught him about the value of good advisors.
September 12, 2019
Three keys to an effective recapitalization strategy
Greenwich Capital Group's Andrew Dickow shares what you need to consider when building an effective recapitalization strategy.
September 11, 2019
Mill 19 Opens As Manufacturing Innovation Hub
Mill 19 recently celebrated its grand opening as the new home to key leaders in Pittsburgh’s manufacturing industry, including Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative, the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and Catalyst Connection.
August 30, 2019
MBF Therapeutics’ Tom Tillett On Raising Capital And Keeping Control
The animal health biotech company's founder and CEO talks about raising capital to fuel your organization’s growth and how to plan to pay back your investors. Here are some of the lessons he shared.
August 30, 2019
Debt Advisor Tom Lesch On Financing Riskier Deals
Livingstone Partners' Tom Lesch talks about his approach helping companies get the capital they need, as well as a recent trend that has seen borrowers become less willing to take risks.
August 28, 2019
How Krystal Biotech went from founding to IPO in 18 months
CEO Krish Krishnan is an experienced biotech executive. But even he didn’t expect to go from self-funding Krystal Biotech to IPO in 18 months.
August 22, 2019
ACG's John Grabner: Recession Talk Not Slowing Down Pace Of Dealmaking
The president of the Cleveland Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth talks about some of the trends affecting dealmaking activity in Northeast Ohio.
August 22, 2019
How To Optimize Capital To Support Growth
Veteran deal adviser Joseph Valentic walks through the process of determining your capital needs and how to find the best source to fund your growth.
August 8, 2019
GovQA's Growth Equity Deal: It's About Insight, Not Money
John Dilenschneider didn’t need money. He wanted a partner that could help GovQA capitalize on its leadership position in the growing market of enterprise workflow software.
August 7, 2019
CMU’s Farnam Jahanian on talent development and regional investment
Carnegie Mellon President Farnam Jahanian is a glass half full kind of guy. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t see challenges ahead for those who want to leverage entrepreneurship and innovation to create wealth in the Pittsburgh region.
August 6, 2019
Collaboration, corporates draw Heartland Ventures to Columbus
South Bend, Ind.-based Heartland Ventures, which focuses on connecting startups to corporations, picked Columbus out of 15 Midwest cities for expansion because of the corporate involvement in the city's collaborative early-stage community.
August 1, 2019
Family Offices: Education And Focus Are Critical To Success
As family offices take an increased interest in direct investing, focus and education are keys to success, says Ann Dugan of the Family Office Exchange.
July 30, 2019
The Behavioral Side Of Investing
AdCap Management Chief Investment Officer Chaya Slain explores the human side of investing and shares what she has learned to minimize mistakes.
July 17, 2019
Ice Miller’s Michael Jordan: Investor Appetite For Alternatives Remains High
Michael Jordan didn’t expect to become an expert in investor-side representation for alternative investments. He stumbled into the niche 22 years ago. Here's what he's seeing in the marketplace.
July 2, 2019
Finance Fund plays vital investment role in local communities
Finance Fund connects underserved communities in Ohio with public and private sources of capital to improve access to healthy food, health care service, education and affordable housing.
July 1, 2019
Huron Capital Leverages Growing Number Of Independent Sponsors
Independent sponsors are a growing part of the M&A landscape, and Detroit’s Huron Capitalis taking advantage of the deal opportunities they provide, says Gretchen Perkins, business development partner.
June 28, 2019
Raising Capital: Three Things Every Investor Wants To Know
When you’re an investor being asked to provide millions of dollars in capital to a growing business, you want a lot of details about how that money will be used.“I would bet 90 percent of the
June 27, 2019
Be Sure You Can Manage Your Capital Before You Take It
Competition is strong among financial institutions engaged in M&A activity, which creates risk for companies looking to make a deal, says says Richard C. Hampson, state president and head of commercial banking at Citizens Bank, Michigan.
June 18, 2019
Keys to developing a strong capital structure
Candlewood Partners founder Glenn Pollack discusses restructuring transactions, building strong capital structures and the risk of selling to private equity.
June 12, 2019
Family offices grow in number and sophistication
Private banker Reese Fields discusses how family offices operate, including balancing privacy with connecting to potential investments.
June 5, 2019
Quantum Health’s Kara Trott on raising capital without losing control
How the CEO of the health care company brought on three rounds of investors, while keeping control of the business she founded.
June 4, 2019
Federated’s Chris Donahue expects active investing to only grow stronger
After buying the smaller Hermes Investment Management, the Federated Investors CEO quickly moved to adopt Hermes' investment strategy of factoring in environment, social and governance criteria.
June 4, 2019
Multifamily Real Estate Assets Prove Lucrative for Citymark Capital
The real estate investor is realizing healthy returns for investors from its platform that invests in value-add apartments with operating partners.
May 28, 2019
How to set up the right capital structure for each acquisition
Andrew Wiechkoske has never had the unfortunate experience of having a deal fall apart at or near the finish line, even though he’s worked at PNC since 2008 and completed more than $1 billion
May 23, 2019
Phil Alexander: Give Potential Investors A Reason To Believe
The founder of ConceptDrop and Nexus A.I. talks about the role personality can play in making better connections with potential investors.
May 23, 2019
Pittsburgh deal activity hit new high in 2018
The 340 publicly announced deals in 2018 upends the previous record of 308 back in 2007, which was the first year the Allegheny Conference began tracking the 10-county region’s economic data.
May 15, 2019
How to plan a successful recapitalization strategy
Recapitalization — the process of changing a company’s capital structure through the issuance of new debt or equity securities — is a popular way to fund acquisitions, growth strategies, partner
May 15, 2019
Ohio State builds momentum for innovation district development
For years, the future of The Ohio State University west campus has been up in the air. That’s changing with the first three buildings planned for an eventual innovation district.
May 13, 2019
M&A Outlook: Steel Service Centers
Industry players are looking for acquisitive growth, targeting value-added processing as a way to enhance margin and better navigate demand volatility, investment bank Brown Gibbons Lang reports.
May 7, 2019
Yvonne Campos' Next Act Fund gives women seat at dealmaking table
Yvonne Campos is an accomplished businesswoman who built and sold a successful market research and strategy firm. In all her experiences, though, she was never asked to participate in a deal or invest
May 3, 2019
Mobility and technology are driving automotive M&A
EY's Brad Hehl assesses the dealmaking landscape in the automotive space and what lies ahead for M&A activity in 2019.
April 30, 2019
In Raising Capital, Who Invests Is As Important As How Big The Check Is
The serial entrepreneur and CEO of SPR Therapeutics talks about her process for raising capital, as well as the role non-dilutive capital has played in her fundraising formula.
April 16, 2019
Capital-raising tips from a CEO who bagged $9 million in 90 days
XaTek CEO John Zak shares his approach to raising capital and the advantage of doing it all at once.
April 12, 2019
NEO bioscience companies landed $294M in 2018
Dealmaking is hot in Northeast Ohio’s biomedical community, with 71 regional companies receiving $294 million in funding in 2018. BioEnterprise’s Aram Nerpouni explains how this dealmaking trend could become the “new normal.”
April 9, 2019
Corporates join VCs to fill pipeline for Pittsburgh tech investment
Pittsburgh’s tech startups attract the lion’s share of funding and attention, says Innovation Works’ Gary Glausser. We spoke with him about trends in tech investing, including highlights from Investment in Pittsburgh’s technology sector report, and the upcoming the AI & Robotics Venture Fair.
March 29, 2019
Chip McClure finds deals in unloved world of Tier 2, Tier 3 suppliers
By founding Michigan Capital Advisors, he has created a private equity firm that addresses the lack of access to capital that prevents suppliers from keeping up with customer demand and diversifying beyond the auto sector.
March 28, 2019
BrewDog USA’s crowdfunding model raises awareness along with money
Former CEO Tanisha Robinson explains how crowdfunding payed a key role in the beer maker's whirlwind growth in the U.S.
March 22, 2019
Driving foreign investment in Northeast Ohio: What’s next for EB-5?
The immigration/investment program that brought more than $250 million to Northeast Ohio to finance real estate projects faces an uncertain future,
March 20, 2019
Budd Dairy Food Hall: Finding the next Cameron Mitchell
The new venture, backed by Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, will help chefs grow their concepts and build their businesses.
March 15, 2019
There is no ‘exit’ for restaurant investors
Investing in a restaurant sounds glamorous, doesn’t it? And that’s become truer as TV depicts chefs as rock stars. Veteran restauranteur Craig Barnum, who raised capital for his first restaurants more than 20 years ago, paints a different picture — one where there are no clear assets or exit timelines.
March 11, 2019
Aspire dealmakers conference coming to Detroit April 11
The Aspire middle-market dealmakers conference will be at the Westin Book Cadillac on April 11. This conference features an all-star lineup of entrepreneurs, investors and adviser.
March 7, 2019
IAM Robotics’ Joel Reed: Finding capital and talent in a competitive robotics industry
The robotics industry remains in flux, especially as methods for fulfilling consumer orders continue to evolve. But Pittsburgh — and companies like IAM Robotics — is at the center of it all.
March 1, 2019
Forward-thinking investors are monetizing the movement of people, products
As self-driving cars become a force on American roadways, Blue Victor Capital's Sherwin Prior is already looking ahead at new ways to leverage autonomous vehicle technology.
February 27, 2019
Dan Manges: Root Insurance's journey to unicorn status
Dan Manges shares Root's high-speed capital raising journey and meteoric rise to unicorn status.
February 20, 2019
M&A Outlook: Making moves in a seller's market
Western Reserve Partners' Dave Dunstan shares key takeaways from Citizens Commercial Banking's eighth-annual Middle Market M&A Outlook.
January 15, 2019
Business Pulse – January 2019
Add-on acquisitions continue to increase as an overall percentage of M&A buyouts. Strategic buyers remain active and able to pursue add-on acquisitions. Private equity is also making more add-on acquisitions.
December 28, 2018
2019: Feeling the pressure
Private equity firms and public companies have a stash of cash – and it’s time to do something with it. In our Dealmakers Look Ahead, we talk with local dealmaking experts about what to expect in 2019.
December 19, 2018
Will past performance predict next M&A downturn?
Greif's Matthew Leahy sees a disconnect between public and private market valuations. Public markets value businesses based on forward earnings, whereas private transactions are generally trailing. "Public market investors could be too bearish, but at the same time, it creates an interesting nuance,” he says.
December 19, 2018
2018: Has the market peaked?
In our Dealmakers Year in Review, Mansour, Manna and other M&A experts weigh in on the past year in dealmaking — including lessons learned, trends to watch and the biggest under-the-radar deals of 2018.
December 19, 2018
Business Pulse – December 2018
MelCap Partners' Matt Roberts looks at next year: "As we look toward 2019 deal activity, we believe the prepared will win."
November 20, 2018
A look at the present — and future — of Columbus’ economy
Columbus Partnership President and CEO Alex R. Fischer shares his insights into the next steps for Columbus’ economic development and economy.
November 20, 2018
Business Pulse – November 2018
Roughly 50 percent of the deals tracked in Northeast Ohio during October involved acquisitions or exits by private equity groups.
October 26, 2018
Business Pulse – October 2018
In an optimistic economy that seems to churn out favorable economic indicators on a weekly basis, the continued decline in deal activity on the local and national level may seem startling.
October 25, 2018
A look into the wild world of raising capital
Three dealmakers with different experiences raising capital came together in a panel discussion at ASPIRE 2018 to discuss the ins and outs of funding.
September 19, 2018
Business Pulse – September 2018
For the Northeast Ohio market, August was filled with deal activity by local private equity and corporate buyers.
August 24, 2018
Business Pulse – August 2018
July continued many of the M&A trends that we’ve seen over the first half of 2018.
July 13, 2018
XaTek raises $9M in under 90 days
John Zak talks about his work, his team and his ambitious strategy to take this project across the finish line.
July 13, 2018
Business Pulse – July 2018
Despite lower middle-market deal volume, which is primarily the result of a scarcity of quality assets, the current M&A market is expected to remain favorable to sellers.
June 28, 2018
Mezu: New venture, old friends
How Yuval Brisker leveraged his success and relationships at TOA Technologies to raise $10 million and get Mezu up and running.
June 25, 2018
A look at the Pittsburgh environment for raising capital
Four of Pittsburgh’s prominent business leaders share their experiences on the front lines of M&A in an environment of rising valuations. The higher prices are being driven in part by private equity-backed portfolio companies that buy strategically and do add-ons to other deals, as well as family offices with money to spend and a will to do direct acquisitions.
June 14, 2018
Business Pulse — June 2018
In 2018, a noticeable shift in corporate divestiture trends has taken place.
May 24, 2018
A dive into today’s aggressive deal market
Four of Pittsburgh’s prominent business leaders share their experiences on the front lines of M&A in an environment of rising valuations.
May 11, 2018
Business Pulse — May 2018
M&A activity for the month of April followed the downward trend that was expected to occur during 2018. Total deal volume decreased 13 percent as compared to April 2017, and decreased 9 percent from March 2018.
April 27, 2018
Forward progress: The State of Technology in Pittsburgh
From material science, life science and data centers to energy technology and research on artificial intelligence and social ventures, Pittsburgh is on the cutting edge of technology in many sectors.
April 27, 2018
Raising startup capital
There are a few things that any entrepreneur considering raising capital needs to think about.
March 29, 2018
Business Pulse — April 2018
M&A volume remains strong on a historical basis, and average deal value trends continue to show that buyers are willing to pay full value for healthy assets.
February 23, 2018
RVshare shifts into overdrive
With $50M in capital and new CEO, the Airbnb of RVs is ready to roll. Joel Clark may be the hottest entrepreneur in Northeast Ohio you’ve never heard of.
December 28, 2017
2017: The Year of the Seller
Much like the M&A climate nationally, Greater Cleveland had a strong year for dealmaking in 2017, as evidenced by the number and value of the transactions completed. We spoke with some of Cleveland’s M&A experts and gathered their perspective on the year that was in dealmaking.
December 28, 2017
2018: Let the good times roll
The corporate tax reform signed into law by President Donald Trump could spawn a new wave of dealmaking activity in the new year. Here’s a look at what local M&A experts had to say when asked what to expect in 2018.
