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May 5, 2023

Facing Economic Headwinds, Deal Math Changes

Several area dealmakers chimed in on how they see the current market; how buyers, sellers and entrepreneurs are faring; and their expectations for how the remainder of the deal year plays out. Check out what they have to say....

By Adam Burroughs

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

May 5, 2023

How Communication Breakdowns Can Kill Deals

CE Consulting Group's Gary Cerrone spoke during the Smart Business Dealmakers Conference about a deal that almost didn't get done in part because of a communication breakdown....

By Adam Burroughs

April 26, 2023

What TRG's Sean Kennedy Learned Making Two Foreign Acquisitions

TRG's Sean Kennedy on the company's growth, the differences between its domestic and international acquisitions, as well as the process of integrating teams that come from much different cultures....

By Adam Burroughs

April 6, 2023

Hugh Slater on Buying, Building And Selling EGC Enterprises

Slater Capital Managing Partner Hugh Slater on buying, building and growing EGC Enterprises....

By Adam Burroughs

March 31, 2023

Facing Headwinds, Buyers and Sellers Need To Be Patient

Norwest Equity Partners' Adam Garcia Eveloff, Aon's Vipul Patel, Wealth Enhancement Group's Jim Cahn and NJK Holding Corporation Florida's Rhonda Donahoe on navigating evolving deal terms and pitfalls in buy-side deals....

By Adam Burroughs

March 24, 2023

Viewing Risk Deal By Deal

U.S. Venture Inc. Associate General Counsel Jennifer Schwitzer on mitigating deal risk. ...

By Adam Burroughs

March 3, 2023

Overcome Buy-Side Arrogance, Or Risk Overpaying

Atlas Holdings Partner Ramzi Hermiz and Lorient Capital Vice President Doug Shinkle on de-risking a deal from the buy-side....

By Adam Burroughs

February 10, 2023

Sanjay Singh On The Critical 100 Days Post-Acquisition

Sanjay Singh, before he was chairman and CEO of Mace Security International, lead a business in the acquisition of a lower-middle-market manufacturing company that was a fierce competitor. That made post-deal integration a challenge. ...

By Adam Burroughs

January 27, 2023

DealTalk: Blue Point Capital’s Acquisition of Water Lilies

Blue Point Capital has a lot of experience in the food and beverage space, so it was natural that the Cleveland-based PE firm would jump at the chance to acquire Water Lilies, a 27-year-old private label manufacturer of premium frozen Asian-inspired food....

By Adam Burroughs

January 27, 2023

The Shift In Diligence From Risk to Reward

West Monroe Senior Partner Keith Campbell is a co-author of the report, The Future of Diligence in Private Equity, which highlights survey findings from 100 U.S. PE companies to explore the shifts in diligence approach that move away from identifying risk to identifying opportunity. That shift is happening in part because of unique market factors. Campbell says 80 percent or more of diligence used to be on site pre-COVID. ...

By Adam Burroughs

January 6, 2023

Trust But Verify Is An Important M&A Lesson To Learn

Eliassen Group CEO David MacKeen on what he's learned as a buyer and how he's applied that the company's acquisition process moving forward. ...

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

Flexibility Has Advantages In Deal Negotiations

Brian Gale, Tucker Ellis' Jayne Juvan and Blue Point Capital's Chip Chaikin, share advice on how flexibility can win deals over price. ...

By Adam Burroughs

December 1, 2022

To Win The Deal, Get Creative

Hartwood Point's Ben Rizzo, Continuim Equity Partners’ George Pilafas and RDX/Navisite’s Buddy Flerl on best practices in winning the deal....

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

Understand Why Before You Buy

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

By Adam Burroughs

November 11, 2022

Stay-At-Home Moms Take The Pressure Off Park Place Technologies' M&A Processes

Park Place Technologies Kelly Greene on how she's developed her M&A process during the years. ...

By Adam Burroughs

October 28, 2022

Economic Conditions Drive Buyer Creativity

Ouroboros Group General Partner Samantha Ory on buyer-seller alignment, her firm’s growth from independent sponsor into its first fund, and how the current economic conditions are affecting the M&A landscape. ...

By Adam Burroughs

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 14, 2022

How Jordan Hansell Is Applying Past Experiences To Lead Tradepost

Tradepost's Jordan Hansell on launching and growing TradePost, how his experience is shaping his approach in the new venture, as well as a series of recent investments he's made in the real estate space, a sector he says is poised for disruption....

By Adam Burroughs

October 14, 2022

When Acquiring an ESOP, Get ESOP Expert Help

Warren Equity Partners' Michael Ouyang on the process his firm takes when targeting companies that have an ESOP ownership structure....

By Adam Burroughs

September 30, 2022

Lessons learned from the supply chain turmoil

LFM Capital's Stephen Cook his view of the situation in middle-market manufacturing and how the firm is dealing with the economic pressures in that sector. ...

By Adam Burroughs

September 9, 2022

Family Business Succession is a Slow, Steady Process

The L’Herbier family was at a crossroads six years ago. The owners of Air Duct Maintenance, Kevin and Debbie L’Herbier, were looking to retire and had to decide what to do with the company they started back in 1996. They approached their children, Dan and Lauren L’Herbier, to see if they had interest in taking over leadership. After a brief period, the siblings decided to begin the succession process. It didn’t go as quickly as everyone had hoped, however. ...

By Dan Pender

September 9, 2022

Accelerating growth through private equity

Schill Grounds Management's Jerry Schill on the company's deal with Argonne and how it will help accelerate the business's growth....

By Adam Burroughs

August 19, 2022

Jonathan Kasen, Gordon Scott on buying Hilliards Chocolates

As investors, Gordon Scott and Jonathan Kasen were comfortable analyzing businesses. But to prepare to acquire a company, they went to textbooks....

By Adam Burroughs

July 29, 2022

Distinguish yourself in a deal

Tecum Capital's Stephen Gurgovits, Citizens M&A Advisory's David Dunstan, Matthews International Corp.'s Richard Beard and Aon's Bill Coleman on building a successful acquisition engine. ...

By Adam Burroughs

July 29, 2022

When to leave leadership behind

Carestream Health's David Westgate, Madison Dearborn Partners' Michael Nettesheim Executive Search Partners' Nick Curran and N2 Advantage Law's Timothy Nettesheim on how to know what you're buying....

By Adam Burroughs

July 22, 2022

How Relationships Brought Abatemaster and Plumb Line Capital Together

Plumb Line Capital's Matt Lindberg and Abatemaster's Jeff Chilton on the acquisition, growing a former family-operated business, and how relationships have played a role in every aspect of the deal. ...

By Adam Burroughs

July 22, 2022

Price Taker vs. Price Maker and the effect on value

BMO Harris Bank's John Chalus and Tecum Capital's Matt Harnett on the economic factors that are affecting deals and how buyers and sellers can adjust. ...

By Adam Burroughs

July 14, 2022

Making Deals with Unprepared Participants

Charlie Saponaro, CEO, Medical Record Associates, is a long-standing veteran of the Boston M&A world, with more than 30 deals to his credit. In several of those transactions, Saponaro had to make it happen even though the sellers were not quite as sophisticated in the common practices of the M&A world. ...

By Dan Pender

June 29, 2022

Relationships, communication smooth MedPilot, Vytalize deal

Vytalize Health's Kevin Murphy and Matt Buder Shapiro on the deal, how it came to be and where the combined companies go from here....

By Adam Burroughs

June 17, 2022

Overcoming Great Day's Early Challenges Hinged On The Team

Blue Olive Partners Executive Chairman Ed Weinfurtner on building the family of Great Day brands. ...

By Adam Burroughs

June 10, 2022

How Reps & Warranties Is Increasing Deal Efficiency

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis' Tyson Bickley, LFM Capital's Chris Lin, Resource Label Group's Hunter Rost and LBMC's Brian Marynowitz on how to evolve your buy-side strategies in 2022 and beyond, and key mistakes you can avoid....

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

June 10, 2022

Edovo Divests to Improve Mission Focus

Edovo CEO Brian Hill on his venture, its recent acquisition and raising capital....

By Adam Burroughs

June 10, 2022

Franklin Foster on Essex Bay Capital's Launch

Essex Bay Capital Co-founder Franklin Foster talks about launching Essex Bay Capital and the investments the company has made so far. ...

By Adam Burroughs

June 2, 2022

Listening is key to uncovering overlooked opportunities

George J. Howe Co.'s Len Caric on why creating win-wins is critical for the acquisition process....

By Adam Burroughs

May 19, 2022

The rise of cyber diligence

Aon Risk Services' William Shortt, along with Ice Miller's Reena Bajowala, Guaranteed Rate's Darin Hurd, Chicago Bears' Justin Stahl and Aon Risk Services Che Bhatia, on the rising importance of cyber diligence in M&A transactions. ...

By Adam Burroughs

May 11, 2022

Macro issues change the M&A math

Little Mountain Industries' Jonathan Hatch on the lower-middle-market manufacturing scene and how broader macro issues are affecting the deal math for firms such as his. ...

By Adam Burroughs

May 11, 2022

For Stu Clark, Acquisitions Are All About The Team

Premise Health's Stu Clark on his acquisition philosophy, what he looks for in teams and cultures, and his post-deal integration process....

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

May 6, 2022

Family Values Play Role in Acquisition

When A.O. Smith bought Canada's Giant Factories in the middle of the pandemic,  it was the end of a decade-long process....

By Dan Pender

May 6, 2022

Tips on buying distressed assets

General Management Group's Emmett McNulty on what to keep in mind when buying distressed companies....

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 28, 2022

Using partnerships to set up an acquisition

Hickory Farms CEO Diane Pearse talks about the company's recent acquisitions, broadening its brand and how the Wicked Good Cupcakes deal came to be. ...

By Adam Burroughs

April 22, 2022

An acquisition based on shared interests, approach

Gibson Brand President Cesar Gueikian talks about the Mesa/Boogie acquisition, as well as the direction of the Gibson brand and the many ways it's working to connect with its community....

By Adam Burroughs

April 14, 2022

Akoya Capital Finds Success With New Platform

Akoya Capital's Bob May talks about the formation of Beacon, its acquisitions, and how macro challenges such as labor are affecting the platform's progress....

By Adam Burroughs

April 8, 2022

M&A Human Capital Strategies

Aquila Equity Partners' Gary Lewis, along with Purple Squirrel Advisors' Carrie Schochet, Lockton Companies' Quinn Damon, Mission Veterinary Partners' Matthew Davis, Industrial Opportunity Partners' Philip Fioravante talk about lessons learned and best practices from growing portfolio companies in a labor-challenged environment....

By Adam Burroughs

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