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September 29, 2023
Optimism For Better M&A Times Is On The Horizon
Headlines of articles covering the M&A market over the past couple of months and years have painted a challenging picture, says UBS Market Executive, Philadelphia & DC Market Julie Fox. However, they...
By Adam Burroughs
September 8, 2023
Philadelphia's 2023 Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners: Trailblazers in Business and Innovation
The 2023 Smart Business Network Philadelphia Dealmaker Awards have recognized exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in the City of Brotherly Love. These...
By Dan Pender
July 28, 2023
Don't Force Family Into Taking Over The Business
When it comes to making a successful transition within a family business, education and communication are by far the most important factors. Waldron Private Wealth Partner & Chief Investment Officer...
By Adam Burroughs
June 23, 2023
Transition Options For Family Businesses
There comes a time for family businesses to make a transition. In some cases, the business is passed down to the family's next generation. But when that's not an option, there are other transitions...
By Adam Burroughs
May 19, 2023
Whether buying or selling, alignment is key
Investors have had a lot to process recently — COVID bumps in their portfolio companies, whether positive or negative; supply chain issues; inflation impacting working capital, to name a few. While...
By Adam Burroughs
April 21, 2023
The Importance Of A Good First Impression
Blank Rome's Louis Rappaport on best practices for gaining the upper hand in deals done in a highly competitive environment....
By Adam Burroughs
March 24, 2023
How Buyers Leverage Weaknesses In A Deal
Guardian Capital Partners Managing Partner Peter Haabestad on the ways buyers pick apart deals and how business owners can maximize the opportunity of a sale....
By Adam Burroughs
March 10, 2023
Data, Transparency Play Large Roles In A Deal
Highwood USA CEO and Founder John Quarmley talks through the company's recent sale process....
By Adam Burroughs
February 24, 2023
Borrowing Against IP
Mark Fox, managing partner at Ghost Tree Partners, and Joseph Rossi, AVP, Aon Intellectual Property Solutions at Aon, on methods for lending against a company's IP....
By Adam Burroughs
February 10, 2023
Cohen & Company Acquires BBD's Investment Management Group
Cohen & Company, one of the country's top tax and accounting firms featuring a nationally recognized Investment Industry Services Group, announced it will acquire BBD's Investment Management Group...
By Dan Pender
February 10, 2023
Bill Yoh On Adding Structure To The Family Business
Day & Zimmerman Co-Owner Bill Yoh on how to have the tough conversations necessary to have a thriving family business for generations. ...
By Adam Burroughs
January 27, 2023
The Impact Of Tax Structuring On A Deal
There have been times when tax issues had significant implications on deals for David Bovenizer, CEO of Lionheart Industrial Group LLC. Recently, he says, his company was trying to acquire a strategic target in the aerospace and defense sector. It was a good strategic match for the business, but the company had a lot of the hallmarks of a smaller company, including a lack of tax planning. It was a single individual owner C-corp, which meant there were fewer structuring options for a deal. And they also had issues such as a history expensing all their purchases and no inventory accounted for on the books. ...
By Adam Burroughs
January 13, 2023
Preparing For A Sale When You're A Social Entrepreneur
Founder and former CEO of Union Packaging Michael K. Pearson on selling his company and preparing for life after a sale....
By Adam Burroughs
December 16, 2022
The Importance To Buyers Of High Probability Of Close
Mereo Capital Partners Co-Founder Leo Helmers on the indicators of a high probability to close and why those matter to buyers. ...
By Adam Burroughs
December 1, 2022
Michael Schreiber On Launching Playfly Sports
Playfly Sports Founder and CEO Michael Schreiber on launching Playfly, making acquisitions as well as advice for those leading disruptive forces into the market. ...
By Adam Burroughs
November 18, 2022
Revolutionary Security's Race To The Finish Line
Former Revolutionary Security CEO Rich Mahler on the sale of the company to Accenture — the period leading up to the deal, COVID's effect and more....
By Adam Burroughs
November 4, 2022
Chain.io Investing in Supply Chain Platform Partnerships
As supply chain issues continue to wreak havoc for businesses both large and small, Chain.io Founder and CEO Brian Glick hopes to alleviate the problems with its cloud-based integration platform, which lets all the different entities in the chain share data between all their systems. ...
By Dan Pender
October 21, 2022
Refine Your Growth Strategy
Wolf Organization's Joe Person, Guardian Capital Partners' Peter Haabestad, RKL's Bryan Redding and JPMorgan Chase's Lisa Kopff, share their keys to developing and unlocking an acquisition plan that works....
By Adam Burroughs
October 7, 2022
From funder to fundraiser
MOBILion's Dr. Melissa Sherman on growing the company and how she's adapted to the fundraising process....
By Adam Burroughs
September 15, 2022
Finding alignment in a family business
AchieveNEXT's Christin Cardone McClave, and UBS’s Bianca Benedetti-Fang and Julie Fox on how McClave’s family managed through being business partners over the years, why they ultimately decided a full sale was a path they wanted to pursue, and how they have adjusted back to being a family, after the transaction. ...
By Adam Burroughs
August 26, 2022
Pre-transaction must-dos for sellers
Kreischer Miller's Brian Kitchen on maximizing your deal success with pre-transaction tax structuring....
By Adam Burroughs
August 25, 2022
Blue Highway Capital Invests In Western Composites
Blue Highway Capital has made a growth equity investment in Western Composites, LLC....
By Adam Burroughs
August 11, 2022
Archetype Solutions Pursues A Unique Approach To Investing
Archetype Solutions Group CEO Chetan Bagga on launching Archetype Solutions and its unique approach to investing....
By Adam Burroughs
August 2, 2022
The Essential First Question CEOs Must Ask Before Partnering with a PE Firm
Private equity dealmaking was busier than ever in 2021, with more than $3.5 trillion in capital deployed throughout the year. Fundraising also increased nearly 20% last year – a record high – which...
By Andrew Panzo
July 29, 2022
Breaking down the complexities of succession planning
Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young Partner Steven Scolari on succession planning and how to break the complex process down into something more manageable....
By Adam Burroughs
July 6, 2022
Revolutionary Security struck while the iron was hot
Revolutionary Security's Rich Mahler discusses the company's 2020 sale to Accenture....
By Adam Burroughs
June 29, 2022
Liquidity Lessons From Selling a Fourth-Generation Family Business
Lewisburg Printing Company's Kirk Kelso, Troutman Pepper's Daniel McDonough, and BNY Mellon's Bryan McGrath and Marty Babitz on the preparation and exit phases of a well-structured transaction....
By Adam Burroughs
June 17, 2022
Argo Fresh's Clint Lewis: Running A Public Company With A PE Partner
In AgroFresh, Clint Lewis is leading a public company that has a private equity investor. 'It's a unique dynamic," Lewis says....
By Adam Burroughs
June 2, 2022
The Battle For Seller Attention
Candid Partners' John Peak and Merrick Olives, along with LLR Partners' Michael Pantilione, Citizens' David Dunstan and Blank Rome's Louis Rappaport, on preparing for a transaction. ...
By Adam Burroughs
May 19, 2022
Unexpected snags that can trip up sellers' deals
BDO's Scott Balestrier and Eureka Equity Partners' Jonathan Chou, along with Murphy McCormack Capital Advisors' Bob McCormack and BDO USA's Eric Fahr, on the many issues sellers should consider before heading to market. ...
By Adam Burroughs
May 6, 2022
Airline Hydraulics Corp. stays in its acquisitional lane
Airline Hydraulics Corp.'s Mark Steffens talks about the company's acquisition strategy....
By Adam Burroughs
April 14, 2022
Tim Wallace On Making Raising Capital Part of The Job
Tim Wallace talks about his vast experience founding companies and growing them into wildly successful businesses. ...
By Adam Burroughs
March 23, 2022
Gerri Henwood on public vs private funding
Serial entrepreneur Gerri Henwood talks about her entrepreneurial experience as well as the differences — the pros and cons — of public and private funding....
By Adam Burroughs
February 4, 2022
Duck Donuts' Betsy Hamm, Russ DiGilio, on their capital raise process
Duck Donuts' Betsy Hamm and Russ DiGilio on what they learned through the process of selling their business to NewSpring Capital....
By Adam Burroughs
December 2, 2021
How Chris Molaro launched NeuroFlow
NeuroFlow co-founder Chris Molaro on changing the way mental health care is delivered, his most recent M&A deal, and the company’s future. ...
By Adam Burroughs
November 5, 2021
Addressing the structural barriers facing minority owned businesses
Della Clark, CEO of The Enterprise Center, talks about ways to create better access to capital for minority entrepreneurs and her newest project, an SBIC fund aimed at mature minority owned companies....
By Adam Burroughs
October 15, 2021
Recapitalizing to stay ahead of the competition
PDC Machines' Kareem Afzal talks about the company’s evolution into the market and how he expects the Arcline investment will help his business capitalize on the opportunity. ...
By Adam Burroughs
September 9, 2021
Financial Materiality Of ESG
The 2021 Philadelphia Smart Business Dealmakers Conference opens with a discussion of ESG issues and how they might play out in the M&A market....
By Adam Burroughs
August 19, 2021
Look deeper for deal value
William Wennberg, today the CEO of Tactical Medical Solutions LLC, says when people become too focused on trying to get the best price for the company, they can lose sight of what value actually is....
By Adam Burroughs
July 21, 2021
Why Rich Dougherty bought LabRepCo twice
Rich Dougherty, president of LabRepCo; Michelle Rondinelli, president of Kitchen Kettle Foods; Steven Staugaitis, director of auditing and accounting at Kreischer Miller; and John Reed, partner at Barley Snyder; offer advice on figuring out the plan for a family business’s future....
By Adam Burroughs
June 25, 2021
The consequences of rushing into a deal
RCCB's Alyssa Brodzinski and Neil Cooper talk about the current deal environment, the tradeoffs that come with speed, and offer tips on putting together a deal team....
By Adam Burroughs
May 21, 2021
Joe Mirabile adds acquisitions to United Safety & Survivability Corp.’s strategy
Joe Mirabile sees acquisitions as accelerators for the growing United Safety & Survivability Corp....
By Adam Burroughs
April 23, 2021
Sam Beiler deals with uncertainty in his exit from Auntie Anne's
Sam Beiler spent 21 years with Auntie Anne's, a company he first worked at then acquired from the founder in 2005, making his decision to exit in 2010 difficult....
By Adam Burroughs
March 25, 2021
How Stephen Kindler accelerated his company’s growth through a PE partner
Stephen Kindler, president and CEO of National Fitness Partners, on choosing a PE partner and his and its adaptation to life with a PE boss....
By Adam Burroughs
February 26, 2021
Greg Cathcart built Excellis Heath with the end in mind
Greg Cathcart, CEO & Founder of Excellis Heath sold his business in late 2020 to the Denmark-based NNIT Group. But the groundwork for a deal began when the company was founded in 2008....
By Adam Burroughs
January 15, 2021
United BioSource's Patrick Lindsay focuses on the interests of ownership in an M&A process
Patrick Lindsay, CEO of United BioSource, offers insight into the company’s M&A history, as well as its approach to the M&A process....
By Adam Burroughs
December 17, 2020
Jeffrey Getty: Common seller mistakes that can derail a deal
KeyBank's Jeffrey Getty on the three main areas sellers should address that begin to close value gaps or find value enhancements that can alter deals for the better....
By Adam Burroughs
November 20, 2020
Fairmount Partners’ Charles Robins on unlocking value ahead of a sale
Business owners often believe they have a lot of value locked in their company. They might be right. However, just how much value, as well as how to unlock that value, are things they tend not to recognize....
By Adam Burroughs
October 23, 2020
Managing Through Uncertainty
Two primary issues have made things difficult for businesses this year. What both have in common is that each has introduced a lot of uncertainty for dealmakers....
By Adam Burroughs
October 6, 2020
Seegrid Acquires Box Robotics
The acquisition is expected to help accelerate next-generation perception and more human-like, situational awareness technology to Seegrid’s vision guided vehicles....
By Adam Burroughs
