Middle Market Growth

During the Toronto ACG Capital Connection conference, Middle Market Growth sat down with leaders from two technology-focused growth equity firms. The first interview in this episode features Scottie Wardell, managing partner and co-founder of Integrity Growth Partners, a firm based outside of Los Angeles that invests in software and tech-enabled services businesses. Wardell discussed the role of d...

Kal Beidas, former president and CEO and current board member of Aetna Bearing Company, spoke with Middle Market Growth on the sidelines of the Great Lakes ACG Capital Connection in Detroit to discuss the impact of tariffs on midsize manufacturers and how trade developments are reshaping due diligence. Aetna, a bearing manufacturer based in Livonia, Michigan, is among many U.S. businesses affected...

Dug Song is vice president and general manager of Duo Security, which he founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 2010 and sold to Cisco last year for $2.3 billion. He sat down with Middle Market Growth on the sidelines of the Great Lakes ACG Capital Connection in Detroit to talk about the origins of Duo, why he decided to sell it to Cisco, and how the company helped draw venture capital investors to Mi...

Kevin Depew, RSM's deputy chief economist and industry eminence program leader, spoke with Middle Market Growth about RSM's Q3 U.S. Middle Market Business Index. The index, which slipped to 129.4 from 132.3 in the third quarter, reflected a decline in confidence among middle-market executives from the previous period. Depew notes that although any reading above 100 indicates confidence among busin...

Andrew McCabe, former acting director of the FBI, spoke with Middle Market Growth about the mounting threats posed to the public and private sectors by state-supported hackers. McCabe chronicles much of his time with the FBI in his new book, "The Threat: How the FBI Protects America in the Age of Terror and Trump." He spent 22 years with the bureau, where he began his career as an agent in the New...

Jessica Robinson, co-founder of the Detroit Mobility Lab and president and executive director of the Michigan Mobility Institute, sat down with MMG on the sidelines of last week's Great Lakes ACG Capital Connection in Detroit to talk about training the engineering workforce of the future. In Robinson's definition, mobility encompasses the transportation of not only people and goods, but also lives...

Tom Turmell, founder and managing director of TMT Capital Partners, spoke with Middle Market Growth about how health care entrepreneurs are looking to grow their businesses, and the common questions he hears about private equity, which continues to show strong interest in acquiring physician practices. In addition to his role at TMT, Turmell delivers and teaches a class to physician entrepreneurs...

On the sidelines of ACG Denver's Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth conference, Middle Market Growth sat down with two corporate leaders from Colorado: Karla Nugent, founder and chief business development officer for Weifield Group, an electrical contractor; and Stuart Smith, CEO of Buehler Companies, a moving, logistics and storage company. In this episode, Nugent and Smith discuss how their compani...

Christopher Gavigan is co-founder and chief purpose officer for The Honest Company, the baby, home and beauty products company he started in 2012 with actress Jessica Alba. On the podcast, Gavigan discussed his experience running a wellness brand, including building trust with customers, recovering from product recalls and reputation challenges, and competing at a time when consumer goods giants a...

Martin Okner, president and chief operating officer of dpHUE, sat down with MMG during the Association for Corporate Growth's InterGrowth conference to talk about the evolution of the beauty industry and how dpHUE's robust digital strategy is helping the company compete in today's market. Okner, who will step into the role of ACG Global board chairman in September, described dpHUE's business model...

The Association for Corporate Growth's membership includes roughly as many corporate members as private equity, and a number of them are involved in the function of corporate development. As part of its efforts to help corporate development officers build their networks and share best practices, ACG will host its inaugural Strategic Acquirer Summit on Nov. 4-5, 2019 in Dallas. On this episode of t...

Kevin Depew, RSM's deputy chief economist and industry eminence program leader, spoke with MMG about the economic outlook for middle-market businesses and how they're responding to tariffs, technological change and a tight labor market. During an interview on June 19, Depew discussed recent developments in the United States' trade dispute with China, the industries that will be most affected, and...

Whit Matthews, senior investment director at Aberdeen Standard Investments, sat down with MMG on the sidelines of the Association for Corporate Growth's InterGrowth conference to talk about what his firm looks for when selecting GPs to work with and some of the common missteps he sees private equity firms make during succession planning. During the conversation, he also described his firm's relati...

PitchBook's director of research and analysis, Nizar Tarhuni, spoke with MMG on the sidelines of the Association for Corporate Growth's InterGrowth conference about emerging areas for private equity investment. Although opportunity zones have garnered attention for their tax benefits and economic development goals, Tarhuni doesn't expect to see widespread middle-market PE investment through that p...

Today, SoulCycle is a well-known fitness brand with indoor cycling studios across the country. But back in 2006, the first SoulCycle opened in a former dance studio off of a rear lobby in New York City, a location that the company's co-founders, Elizabeth Cutler and Julie Rice, found on Craigslist. On this episode of Middle Market Growth Conversations, Cutler describes how she and Rice built SoulC...

Adam Boscoe, director of corporate development for Trimble, spoke with MMG about his company's M&A strategy, including what makes a target attractive, how Trimble's corporate development team is structured, and the types of deals he likes to see from investment bankers. Trimble is a 40-year-old public company that provides advanced positioning solutions used in industries like agriculture, constru...

Pauline Brown, the former chairman of North America for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, reflects on her experience overseeing LVMH's portfolio of luxury brands in the company's largest market, and she offers insight into how high-end brands are faring in the changing retail landscape. After leaving LVMH in 2015, Brown joined the faculty of Harvard Business School, where she teaches a course she...

Working for a private equity-backed business isn't for everybody. According to Bob Ryan, a partner at Shields Meneley Partners, only 1 in 5 professionals he works with in his firm's executive transition program is a fit for a leadership role at a PE portfolio company. In this episode of the podcast, Ryan and Keith Goudy, managing partner at Vantage Leadership Consulting, discuss what it takes to t...

At a recent ACG event in Detroit focused on cross-border trade, Middle Market Growth sat down with leaders from ACG's Detroit, Western Michigan and Toronto chapters. They weighed in on how issues like tariffs and NAFTA renegotiation are impacting middle-market companies, and whether legalization of cannabis presents an investment opportunity for ACG members. The episode features interviews with Ch...

Joseph Comartin, Canada’s consul general in Detroit and a former member of Parliament, spoke with MMG on the sidelines of the recent Cross-Border Connections conference hosted by ACG’s Detroit, Toronto and Western Michigan chapters. He discussed the trade relationship between the U.S. and Canada, the impact of the steel and aluminum tariffs, and a collaborative infrastructure project that promises...

Lower middle-market companies are increasingly attracting interest from private equity buyers. To hear what it takes to successfully partner with these businesses, MMG sat down with Matt Petrucci, a partner with Plante Moran’s transaction advisory services team, and Brett Holcomb, a principal with private equity firm Prospect Partners. Check out Part 2 of this interview to hear Petrucci and Holcom...

In Part 2 of our interview with Matt Petrucci, a partner with Plante Moran’s transaction advisory services team, and Brett Holcomb, a principal with private equity firm Prospect Partners, the two discuss the role PE firms play in helping a company preserve its culture. They also describe the most innovative business models they’ve come across and the broader trends they’re watching. In case you mi...

During the Atlanta ACG Capital Connection, MMG Editor-in-Chief Kathryn Mulligan sat down with Jim Douglass of Fulcrum Equity Partners and Scott Linch of DHG Private Equity to discuss dealmaking in the Southeast, industries to watch, and a new accounting change that’s impacting private equity portfolio companies.

Joe Brusuelas, chief economist for RSM, speaks with MMG's editor-in-chief about what U.S. middle-market managers should be watching as the economy slows and risk factors mount, notably the trade dispute with China. He weighs in on the likelihood of a 2019 recession in the U.S., the impact of the Fed's decision to pause its rate hikes, and how to plan for NAFTA modernization. Brusuelas also discuss...

Mark Heimbouch, president and chief operating officer of Worldpay, speaks with MMG’s editor-in-chief a year after Cincinnati-based Vantiv acquired Worldpay Group, based in London, in one of the largest transactions in the payment processing industry in the last several years. Heimbouch discusses how the deal came about and the post-close integration process at the combined company, named Worldpay....