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May 5, 2023

Protecting The Value Of 2021 Deals In A Much Different Market

Aon's Jessica Harger on issues buyers are facing after a year of fast-paced deals. ...

By Adam Burroughs

April 6, 2023

Raising Capital Requires Warm Relationships

TCARE Co-Founder Ali Ahmadi on the company, its growth and the lessons he's learned about raising capital....

By Adam Burroughs

March 17, 2023

Sellers Sharpen Their Pencils Looking For The Right Transaction In 2023

Brightstar Capital Partners Principal Jacob Herschend, along with Wallis Companies CEO Anson Scoville and CIBC Cleary Gull Director Brian Howley, kicked off the 2023 St. Louis Smart Business Conference talking about the climate for sell-side M&A transactions in 2023 and how it might impact deals...

By Adam Burroughs

March 7, 2023

Safelite Group Acquires Mark’s Mobile Glass

Safelite® Group, a vehicle glass services and recalibration company and owner of Safelite AutoGlass®, has agreed to acquire the auto glass assets of Mark’s Mobile Glass operating throughout Central Missouri....

By Adam Burroughs

February 17, 2023

Digital Health Frenzy Propelled SteadyMD

Guy Friedman is a Co-Founder and serves as Chief Executive Officer and President at SteadyMD, a B2B telehealth infrastructure provider that enables telehealth patient experiences in all 50 states. He spoke on the Dealmakers Podcast about how he built SteadyMD as a direct-to-consumer offering, but quickly realized it’s value to other businesses. ...

By Dan Pender

January 27, 2023

Tough Decisions In Family-Led Businesses

Herschend Family Entertainment started in 1960 in Branson, Missouri by Jacob Herschend's grandparents. They leased a cave and made it available for tours. As it increased in popularity, they built...

By Adam Burroughs

December 16, 2022

What To Consider When Raising Debt

Cequel III Vice President Mike Pizzella, Jr., former CEO of StayLock Storage on current trends in financing business growth — including debt-based financing — and how to best leverage financial tools for different stages of your business lifecycle....

By Adam Burroughs

November 18, 2022

Understand Why Before You Buy

EPIC Systems CEO Michael Higgins on the elements of a deal to consider beyond price. ...

By Adam Burroughs

October 14, 2022

Immunophotonics Makes Strides in Cancer Research

Lu Alleruzzo, a bioengineer with a MBA, had an opportunity early in his career to understand innovation and immediately apply it to society for the benefit of all. That opportunity fueled him and his biotech company, Immunophotonics, to pioneer a field of cancer care called Interventional Immuno Oncology....

By Dan Pender

September 9, 2022

What to consider when considering minority investments

Broadview Group Holdings' Clay Hunter, LoanNEX's Eloise Schmitz, Lewis & Clark AgriFood's Tim Hassler, PNC's Tim Brady and BDO USA's Meg Kellogg on what minority control sales look like, and how planning in advance can lead to multiple bites at the apple....

By Adam Burroughs

August 11, 2022

When (and when not) to call an investment banker

Christopher Riley, CEO, United Cutwater, has more than 30 years’ experience owning and operating more than a dozen businesses in numerous industries. He discusses the current M&A landscape and what business owners should be doing if they’re considering selling....

By Dan Pender

July 6, 2022

Reasons to be excited, cautious, when launching a business with family

Geneoscopy's Andrew Barnell on launching Geneoscopy, structuring the business and working with family....

By Adam Burroughs

June 10, 2022

How labor challenges are affecting M&A

Calaway Habeck Talent Consulting's Jaynanne Calaway-Habeck, Denim Social's Douglas Wilber, CliftonLarsonAllen's Adrian Nohr, PFI Holding Co.'s John Dolan and BMO Harris' Robert Harrod on the factors impacting today's M&A transactions....

By Adam Burroughs

May 11, 2022

Compass Earns Multiple Returns in Less than a Year

Compass Group Equity Partners goes into every investment with a 100-day plan. They’re ready and prepared to move quickly, which they did when they purchased Sunpro Solar in 2020. Compass’ playbook includes augmenting the team and building a board deck with metrics and key performance indicators and having a written strategic plan. John Huhn, founder and managing partner of Compass Group Equity Partners, talks about how that plan enabled Compass Group sell Sunpro with multiple returns in less than a year. ...

By Dan Pender

April 1, 2022

Perimeter Manages Merger in Virtual World

Edward Goldberg, CEO of Perimeter Solutions, talks about securing $1.15 billion of development capital and, concurrently, merging with EverArc Holdings. ...

By Dan Pender

March 4, 2022

For entrepreneurs, there's no place like St. Louis

Clayton Capital Partners' Kevin Short, along with Capital Innovators' Judy Sindecuse, Capacity's David Karandish and EmpowerMe Wellness' Josh Stevens, break down what's driving activity in region and why they believe St. Louis is a great place to do business....

By Adam Burroughs

February 25, 2022

Paul Larson highlights real estate trends investors should watch in 2022

Larson Financial Holdings CEO Paul Larson talks about his company's 2021 in real estate, the trends that affected the market then, and how he sees real estate investment playing out in 2022. ...

By Adam Burroughs

January 27, 2022

What To Do With The Family Business

HBM Holdings' Mike DeCola, along with Clayton Capital Partners' Kevin Short and First Bank Center for Family-Owned Businesses' Joe Ambrose discuss options for family businesses, look at the macroeconomic factors that are influencing owners' decisions to sell or stay put, and explore case studies from those who have developed successful solutions....

By Adam Burroughs

November 24, 2021

DYOPATH CEO Rob Koch Offers His Sell-Side M&A Perspective

DYOPATH CEO Rob Koch, along with WILsquare Capital's Drew Caylor, CIBC's Greg Gorlinski and Polsinelli's Paul Klug talk about what sellers should consider when dealmaking during the pandemic. ...

By Adam Burroughs

October 29, 2021

Creating liquidity events through IPOs and SPACs

Odeon Capital's Eric Gomberg, along with BDO USA’s Meg Kellogg and Scott Hendon, as well as Armstrong Teasdale LLP’s John Sten, talk about creating liquidity events through IPOs and SPACs....

By Adam Burroughs

September 24, 2021

Weighing organic vs inorganic growth

CK Power's Clayton Costello and PFI Holding Company's John Dolan, along with Commerce Bank's Tom Harmon, RSM US LLP's William Spizman and Capital For Business' Tim Buening on how acquisitions fit into a growth strategy....

By Adam Burroughs

August 27, 2021

How Jim Sramek came to sell Midwest Equipment Company to his employees

Midwest Equipment Company's Jim Sramek shares his story of transferring his company to and ESOP....

By Adam Burroughs

July 21, 2021

Quick prep and deal killers

Bethany Michel, managing director at the Harbour Group; Vic Richey, CEO of ESCO; Bo Butters, principal at CLA; and John Chalus, director – corporate advisory, at BMO Harris Bank; talk about deal preparedness....

By Adam Burroughs

June 18, 2021

Jonathan Herrick pursues growth at Benchmark

Jonathan Herrick, a St. Louis entrepreneur who’s now CEO of Benchmark, talks about its most recent acquisition of Contacts+, as well as what’s in store for 2021....

By Adam Burroughs

May 7, 2021

Thomas Hillman and Jim Eberlin share lessons learned

Thomas Hillman, managing partner at Lewis & Clark Capital, and Jim Eberlin, founder and CEO of TopOPPS offer their perspective and approach to dealmaking, as well as some of the lessons they’ve learned over their decades-long careers....

By Adam Burroughs

April 8, 2021

Matthew Porter’s post-transaction advice for entrepreneurs

Matthew Porter, Vice Chairman at Contegix and Senior Strategic Advisor at Invisibly, offers advice on post-transaction life, as well an overview of the transaction that led him to these realizations....

By Adam Burroughs

March 12, 2021

Paul Klug on smoothing out the bumps in M&A negotiations

Paul Klug covers a range of issues, including the view of 2020’s uneven M&A landscape from his seat, and how his clients mitigated deal risk....

By Adam Burroughs

February 12, 2021

Truck Centers’ John Hopkins on moving the family business forward

While he expects to participate as an acquirer, Truck Centers’ John Hopkins is structuring the family business so that selling remains the furthest thing from the family's mind....

By Adam Burroughs

December 3, 2020

Jeff Hewitt on finding the right buyer for the situation

Jeff Hewitt explains how his former company strengthened itself internally by working with a financial buyer, a move that enabled it to be sold from a position of increased strength a few years later....

By Adam Burroughs

November 4, 2020

RSM’s Amy Rudolph offers acquisition strategies for success

RSM's Amy Rudolph soffers tips for serial acquirers on creating an acquisition playbook that leads to consistent success....

By Adam Burroughs

October 9, 2020

Mark Mantovani says sell your company's future to buyers

Mark Mantovani, principal of Mantovani Holdings LLC, on how to know when it's the right time to sell a business....

By Adam Burroughs

September 17, 2020

David Grigsby on dealmaking during a pandemic

David Grigsby shares his insights on how the pandemic has affected M&A — buyers, due diligence and the deal timeline — and how the competition for troubled companies is shaping up....

By Adam Burroughs

July 24, 2020

Hightower Advisors’ Omar Qureshi On Preserving Wealth In Wake Of COVID-19

Hightower Advisors Managing Director Omar Qureshi discusses the challenges and opportunities created by the pandemic, and what business owners and investors should do sooner than later to preserve wealth....

By Adam Burroughs

June 19, 2020

Clayton Capital’s Kevin Short on how buyers are jumping over deal hurdles with tech

Kevin Short, managing director of Clayton Capital Partners, talks about how buyer diligence has adapted to transacting during a pandemic....

By Adam Burroughs

May 21, 2020

Buyers are eager, sellers hesitate says Vincent J. Garozzo

Vincent J. Garozzo, of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale P.C., talks deal flow, the seller mindset and the position of capital institutions....

By Adam Burroughs

May 15, 2020

UNFI’s Retail Accounting Services Division sold

FMS Solutions Inc. has agreed to acquire United Natural Foods Inc.’s Retail Accounting Services Division, where retail accounting teams in Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Anniston, Alabama, Champaign, Illinois, and Hopkins, Minnesota, will become FMS subsidiaries....

By Jayne Gest

April 24, 2020

Leery investors = More Scrutiny

Podcast: CLA partner Bo Butters sees increased scrutiny on deals in the wake of the coronavirus, but he also expects there will be operators who are unwilling to untangle their businesses from the mess caused by the pandemic, creating opportunities for buyers....

By Adam Burroughs

March 27, 2020

Dealmaking In The Age of Coronavirus

Drew Caylor, managing director at WILsquare Capital, and Kevin Short, managing partner and CEO of Clayton Capital, share their insights on the state of dealmaking and what we might expect to see through the remainder of the year....

By Adam Burroughs

March 13, 2020

How Glenn Kraft came to the decision to sell G2N

When Glenn Kraft started thinking about his personal post-G2N financial future, he began a process to explore what he might get for his company, who might be interested, and what to do if the answers were nothing and no one....

By Adam Burroughs

February 28, 2020

Dealmakers Conference Photos

The Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark was the site of the biggest CEO-focused dealmakers event in St. Louis on Feb. 23. The Smart Business Dealmakers Conference, presented by U.S. Bank, featured panel discussions with some of St. Louis' top dealmakers, as well as extensive networking opportunities to meet with entrepreneurs, investors and advisers who make deals happen in Greater St. Louis....

By Michael Marzec

February 13, 2020

At Gateway Blend, Kasey Grelle digs in to acquisitions

With Kasey Grelle at the helm of digital media company Gateway Blend — which owns and operates a portfolio of more than 14 websites that each month reach more than 120 million users — the company has a CEO ready to roll up her sleeves when it comes to acquisitions....

By Adam Burroughs

February 13, 2020

2020 Dealmaker of the Year Awards

Smart Business Dealmakers is recognizing some top deals and dealmakers in the St. Louis region. Here are the 2020 Dealmaker of the Year Award winners!...

By Adam Burroughs

February 12, 2020

Gridiron Capital Completes Sale Of Dent Wizard To Dealer Tire

Gridiron is making a significant new investment in the combined platform alongside the majority shareholder, Bain Capital, the Mueller family and the management team....

By Mark Scott

January 10, 2020

The State of M&A In St. Louis

It's an active M&A environment across industries and the entire spectrum of companies — from large to middle market to small. And that’s not expected to change much this year, despite warnings of a possible economic downturn....

By Adam Burroughs

January 10, 2020

How HBM Works With CEOs To Spur Growth

Andrew Fulford discusses HBM Holdings' expectations for operators and their role in dealmaking....

By Adam Burroughs

January 9, 2020

Capital-raising tips any business can learn from

Coolfire Solutions CEO Don Sharp talks about raising capital, nurturing investor relationships and what should be understood when faced with the decision of whether, or whether not, to take on outside capital....

By Adam Burroughs

January 8, 2020

Successful Integration Requires Upfront Planning

Sean Morris talks about how he prepared Pulse Therapeutics for a merger, and worked to maintain value for everyone involved....

By Adam Burroughs

December 5, 2019

Deal Us In

Business owners can’t afford to ignore M&A — even if they’re not actively looking to buy or sell. That’s because competitors are out scooping up a new technology, diversifying into new geographies, raising growth capital, and implementing long-term exit plans that help them run their companies better....

By Adam Burroughs

December 4, 2019

Thompson Street's Jack Senneff: The Ins And Outs Of Deal Prep

Thompson Street Capital Partners Managing Director Jack Senneff offers his perspective on deal readiness — what owners should do, and not worry so much about doing — ahead of a potential transaction....

By Adam Burroughs

December 3, 2019

How Maxine Clark Financed Build-A-Bear

Build-A-Bear Workshop founder Maxine Clark talks about how she raised the capital — both financial and intellectual — to grow the retail chain and eventually take it public....

By Adam Burroughs