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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
December 2, 2019
Process Control's Bill Morgan offers an M&A education to owner-operators
The way Bill Morgan sees it, he’s an operator, not an M&A guy. But the truth is, he’s both....
By Adam Burroughs
