Smart Business Dealmakers: The Middle-Market M&A Podcast

Without a basic understanding of cybersecurity, companies can stand to lose a great deal. As BKD's Cyber Division Director Cy Sturdivant points out, companies that acquire businesses with weak defenses may see their ROI compromised as easily as systems with weak passwords. Cy offers his take on the cyberthreat environment, what cybersecurity means in practice, and just how troubling digital threat...

Entrepreneur Will Zell, Executive Chairman at Nikola Labs, talks about the pandemic-era launch of Zell Capital, one of the new Access Funds seeking to broaden public reach into private markets. He discusses what he saw from the funding community during that time and how it's changed since. He also delves into the relationship between boards and the companies they oversee, as well as the impact of...

There's been chatter of late among earlier-stage investors — seed funds, VC, etc. — about large private equity firms starting to make investments much earlier in the funding lifecycle, like Series A rounds. While most have yet to be directly affected by this trend, they're thinking about it. And for some, like CFV Ventures Managing Partner Nat Clarkson, it could be a good thing. Clarkson offers hi...

ESG — environmental, social and governance — is an aspect of reporting for public companies that's been around for a while. Recently, ESG matters have started to work their way from the public sphere into private diligence. Sehrish Siddiqui, corporate and securities partner at Bass, Berry & Sims, says companies that embrace these issues can see their valuations go up. She breaks down ESG's path fr...

The way David Iwinski sees it, COVID marks a tipping point in the economic relationship U.S. businesses have with China. The managing director at Blue Water Growth expects that will complicate the M&A transactions of those companies with supply chains linked to the country. He breaks down the situation and offers advice for rooting out supply chain risk ahead of — and during — a transaction.  

Footprint Capital is experiencing a record year for activity, mostly sell-side transactions involving business owners looking to capitalize on a strong 2020 while racing to beat the enactment of potential capital gains taxes in 2021. Managing Director Josh Curtis discusses his view of the market from the sell-side and buy-side, as well as his sense of how things could play out for the balance of t...

Getting a company off the ground is never easy. It often starts with a founder putting some money in, tapping friends and family, and then attracting outside investors. But ensuring your company is prepared for growth — round by round — is more art than science. BDO's Robert Berdanier and Deron Curliss share their thoughts on analyzing management teams, operations, and the keys to professionalizin...

While many owners are thinking about and likely planning their exits, they're not rushing, says Perry Maughmer, who mentors CEOs as a local chair for Vistage in Columbus. Before stepping away for good, they want to know that the legacy they've built and the people who've helped them along the way are respected. From his seat at Vistage, Perry talks about the CEO mindset and how that's informing th...

SPACs fast track the path for a private company to go public. The second part of that process — the one that's not as widely discussed — is de-SPACing and is needed to complete the process. Like most everything in M&A, it comes with risks. Aon Managing Director Matthew Wiener and Vice President Benjamin Popson discuss the risks inherent in the de-SPACing process, and how to effectively mitigate th...

The high-volume deal activity we've been seeing for the past 12 months has many business owners getting out while the getting is good. The often once-in-a-lifetime liquidity event has likely given them a great deal to work with and may encourage some to start investing. David Sowerby, managing director and portfolio manager at Ancora, offers some words of wisdom to those who are eager to put their...

Ampex Brands recently acquired bakery-café chain Au Bon Pain from Panera Bread, becoming a franchisor for the first time in its 16-year history and expanding its footprint internationally. Ampex Brands CFO Eric Easton and Jayne Juvan, M&A Chair at Ampex's law firm Tucker Ellis, discuss how it all went down.

Female entrepreneurship has been on the rise over the past decade. The pandemic brought unique challenges not only to this group, but generally to women in the workforce. Linda Pringle Evans, founder and CEO of Pringle Business Consulting and the Director of Education at Empowering a Billion Women, talks about the state of female entrepreneurship, where systemic flaws lead to a less-clear path for...

The red hot deal market features the promise of incredible valuations and the threat of higher capital gains taxes. Business owners could feel that this is their moment to sell. But should they? And is a sale the only way to leverage this opportunity? Executive Partner Neil Cooper and Partner Alyssa Brodzinski of law firm RCCB dissect this moment and lay out some options business owners may want t...

As the world emerges from the COVID-driven shutdowns, global markets enter a new phase. So what impact has the pandemic had on the fiscal and monetary-related activities, supply chains and even risk? Yenner Karto, Head of International Banking and Foreign Exchange at First National Bank, and Ahmed El Nokali, the bank's Head of Capital Markets, discuss these issues and more.

Kian Capital Partners recently completed a majority recapitalization of T Sportline, an e-commerce provider in the Tesla aftermarket space. It's the third platform investment in the automotive aftermarket space for the middle-market investment firm. Co-founder and partner Kevin McCarthy and partner Scott Buschmann talk about the investment, the opportunity they see as auto manufacturers ramp up th...

River SaaS Capital identifies software-as-a-service companies that it can add value to not just by writing a check to help them scale but by leveraging the resources the firm has built. Chief Investment Officer Wendy Jarchow discusses how River SaaS Capital's 2020 played out, what the firm's survey of its portfolio companies told her about how they adjusted to the pandemic's challenges, and what s...

As the deal market sizzles based on pent-up demand and an abundance of capital in search of good deals, the M&A world races toward a post-COVID reality. Yet questions about structure and terms still remain as we try to settle into a new normal. George Nemphos, founding member of law firm Nemphos Braue, shares his thoughts on the activity he's seeing, deals he's been closing for clients, and what's...

It's an enticing environment for business owners looking to sell, especially those who have now been tested by two major economic disruptions in just a little more than a decade — and would rather not be tested by a third. Murad Beg, a partner at Provariant Equity Partners, talks about the factors that are contributing to this intensely hot deal market, and offers advice to those who are consideri...

There's a lot happening with United Safety & Survivability Corp. It changed its name, expanded its mission and bought three companies in the past two years — each outside the U.S. President & CEO Joe Mirabile talks about how acquisitions are helping the company broaden its mission, how international acquisitions compare to domestic, what post-deal integration was like during the pandemic, and how...

There's a sense that the M&A market might not ever be better for a sale than it is right now. Beth Haas, a partner at Cyprium Partners, talks about why that's the case, as well as the macro factors that could impact the deal market through the balance of the year, and what sellers should do right now to leverage what could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

There's little doubt that the M&A world is adjusting to the spate of SPACs taking companies public without going through the usual IPO roadshow or diligence. But it also seems clear that special purpose acquisition companies are here to stay. Kristin Kraeger, National SPAC & IPO Leader for Aon, discusses how the insurance industry has quickly moved to identify ways to de-risk SPAC deals and keep t...

After Cindi Englefield sold Show What You Know Publishing, a company she grew from her dining room table, she became a business adviser, helping small business owners with — among other things — selling their business. In this conversation, Englefield, who now leads Englefield Business Advisors, shares her inside/outside experience of the sale process — from what she's seen working with owners she...

Greg Skoda is a senior partner at Marcum, an accounting and advisory firm that represents a lot of SPACs — possibly the most in the U.S. right now. In this interview, Skoda covers SPAC fundamentals: What they are, why they're suddenly so popular, and what sellers and investors should know about them. If you're looking to get oriented to what exactly all the SPAC fuss is about, this is an excellent...

While Nashville is known as the Music City, it's also home to one of the nation's top private universities: Vanderbilt. With a vibrant business school, Vanderbilt's alumni are well-entrenched in the region's business community. Eric Johnson, dean of the university's Owen Graduate School of Management, shares his thoughts on how Vanderbilt is working with the regional dealmaking community and how t...

What's the state of M&A financing post-COVID? One thing is for certain: Deals are being funded. Mark Guterman, managing director of loan syndications for First National Bank, and Martin McCormick, managing director and head of FNB Mezzanine Finance for F.N.B. Corp., discuss what's changed, what hasn't, and what dealmakers can expect to see in different capital stacks for the second half of 2021 an...