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November 17, 2023
For SCLogic, Time Is Ticking For An Exit
By Adam Burroughs
Mike Saldi, founder and CEO of SCLogic, feels he's running out of time. And that in part why his company began running a process. "At 60 years old, I've got to figure out what's next," Saldi said at
November 3, 2023
Ven Raju On Investor Opportunities In Pittsburgh
After years of investing in early-stage companies in the SaaS, robotics, Internet of Things, health and fin tech spaces, Ven Raju has taken his talents from New York to Pittsburgh where he now heads
November 3, 2023
Putting Your Superpower To Work Post Exit
It's always a good time to start thinking about life after the sale of a business, says North Coast Ventures Managing Director Todd Federman. That, he says, can help business owners avoid being one of
November 3, 2023
Greater Diligence Means Greater Deal Prep
In the market today, there's been a change in availability of debt and the cost of that debt, says Mereo Capital Partners Managing Partner John O'Hare. There's also an issue of meeting seller
October 27, 2023
Deeper Diligence Puts More Onus On Sellers
Macroeconomic factors are driving due diligence that is much deeper, taking longer and is more important to deal making, says Mark Kessler, a partner at Palmares Capital Partners. Looking across the
October 27, 2023
Announcing Minneapolis' Smart Business Network Dealmaker Award Winners and 2023 Dealmakers Hall of Fame Class!
The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards recognize exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Minneapolis. In addition, The Minneapolis
October 27, 2023
The Search For Clean Deals
No deal is perfect, but Dan Weingartz, CEO of W&P Management, says that it's just gotten to where there needs to be cleanliness across everything — the financials, the strategy, the leadership and
October 20, 2023
Cleveland Deal Activity: Rise In Bankruptcies Drive Distressed M&A Activity
Throughout 2023, the U.S. M&A landscape has been significantly shaped by a notable rise in distressed M&A transactions. According to bankruptcy filings from the U.S. Courts, the number of Chapter 11
October 20, 2023
Charlotte M&A Honorees Announced!
The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year Awards recognize exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Charlotte. The 2023 class of winners — who will
October 20, 2023
Buying What's Not In The Numbers
Randy Overton says in health care M&A in recent years, he's seen all kinds of books. "All of the sudden, everybody is the most valuable company in the world," says Overton, CFO of FastPace Health.
October 20, 2023
Steve Ball On Growing Zesty Paws Ahead Of Its $610M Sale
Steve Ball, the former CEO and board member of Zesty Paws, helped lead the pet supplements company to extraordinary growth that eventually led to its sale to Health & Happiness (H&H) Group
October 13, 2023
In This Market, Creative Dealmakers Thrive
Slow M&A deal flow in 2022 has trickled into 2023 as more people are standing on the sidelines concerned about rising interest rates and the perpetual threat of a recession. Though deal flow as picked
October 13, 2023
Midwest Values Bouy Businesses When Fundamentals Are The Focus
The Chicago Smart Business Dealmakers Conference kicked off with insights and strategies for navigating the post-exit landscape, as well as the speakers' perspective on what's been a tricky M&A
October 6, 2023
Interest Rates Effect Strategy, But Multiples Remain Insulated
Interest rates have an impact on a variety of factors — not just in M&A, but in business in general. That's causing businesses to develop strategies to minimize the impact of those rising rates to
September 29, 2023
Chicago M&A Honorees Named
The Smart Business Dealmakers Dealmaker of the Year awards recognize exceptional individuals who are shaping the landscape of business and innovation in Greater Chicago. The 2023 class of winners —
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
September 29, 2023
The 15-Year Process Of Selling CollabraSpace
CollabraSpace Co-Founder Ray Schwemmer says he would get cold calls all the time from people looking to buy his software company. "We basically just ignored them," he said at the Baltimore Smart
September 22, 2023
Increasing investment in Central Ohio
On the heels of the Intel announcement that created much buzz in Central Ohio, Chris Michael a partner at Ice Miller LLP, led the kickoff panel at the Columbus Smart Business Dealmakers Conference
September 22, 2023
How Not Listening To Advice Benefitted SkySpecs
SkySpecs CEO Danny Ellis has raised a few rounds of funding — six in total — and has learned several lessons from the experience. "A lot of mistakes in the early days," Ellis says. "We probably over
September 8, 2023
Cleveland Deal Activity: Navigating M&A deal structures in a tightened debt market
As interest rates and borrowing costs move in parallel, buyers are faced with the challenge of navigating increasing costs of debt to finance acquisitions, especially in deals where the seller has
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
August 25, 2023
Deals Can Be Like A Marriage, But Also Like A Divorce
Christy Brown has had multiple entrepreneurial journeys. For each, there are three common factors that ultimately led to the sale of each. "One was typically I was looking for a strategic partner for
August 25, 2023
People On A Deal P&L
As Detroit Manufacturing Systems sets out to make acquisitions, people are top of mind, says then CFO, now EVP of Sales, Purchasing and Strategy Scott Cieslak. "One of the first things we had to do
July 21, 2023
Luke Haverhals' Company Is Working To Solve The World's Biggest Problem
Luke Haverhals, founder and CEO of Natural Fiber Welding, says he's an accidental entrepreneur. As the former chemistry professor at the United States Naval Academy tells it, he was fortunate to be in
July 14, 2023
Robert H. Schottenstein On How He Diligences Land, Company Acquisitions
M/I Homes, Inc. started in Columbus in 1976, and today is one of the largest home builders in the U.S. Chairman and CEO Robert H. Schottenstein's dad was one of the co-founders of a business that
July 14, 2023
View Deal Risk Within The Larger Context
John “Ozzie” Nelson Jr., Chairman and CEO of NELSON Worldwide, has led the award-winning design, architecture, branding, and consulting services organization's hypergrowth from one-office to more than
July 7, 2023
John Cerasuolo On Making The Leap To A New Industry Focus
John Cerasuolo leads incredibly acquisitive companies. At ADS Security, he led the business through 45 acquisitions in a direct-to-owner model that relied on relationships and an internal team to
July 7, 2023
How Three Long-Time Competitors Merged
Massachusetts-based technology advisory firms ROI Communications, Blue Front Technology Group and allConnex joined forces in late 2022 under one banner as Amplix. The three agencies — long-time, mutually respectful competitors — agreed to a merger backed by Gemspring Capital ManagemenT. The deal has worked for all three, and now a fourth major player, NET7, has joined the team.
June 29, 2023
Prepare At The Beginning For The Best End
Harold Green launched Chamberlain Contractors, an asphalt paving company, back in 1975, and sold it to Pavement Partners, a portfolio company of Shoreline Equity Partners, in January 2022. While he
June 9, 2023
Superstar CEO Roundtable Kicks Off Cleveland Conference
Kicking off the 2023 Cleveland Smart Business Dealmakers Conference were several of the region’s top executives talking with moderator Jeff Bechtel, President - Cleveland Region, First National Bank,
