At its core, ACG is about connecting people in the middle market and providing access to investment opportunities, new ideas, business strategies and career advancement. The recipients of our first-ever MAX Awards and the chapter members highlighted in this issue show the strength of the ACG network. The people deeply engaged in the ACG community are often ones who go above and beyond their call of duty.
These members are not just networking to bring in deals for themselves, but they try to help others, connect fellow members with M&A or job prospects, communicate best practices in the industry and advance diversity and career development initiatives.
Both The Riverside Company and Houlihan Lokey, two of this year’s MAX Award recipients, are plugged into the ACG Los Angeles chapter, as well as the national community. Jeremy Holland, a managing partner in origination in Los Angeles at Riverside, sits on the Private Equity Roundtable Committee in LA. Local industry execs say he is well connected and respected in the community and is often credited with making introductions, helping other people find deals and jobs and being thoughtful in advancing middle-market dealmaking.
Chris Hebble, a managing director at Houlihan Lokey, has been involved in the ACG Los Angeles chapter for 20 years and says his firm likes having a large presence at DealMAX (formerly called InterGrowth), given the amount of opportunities and meetings the event can generate. Hebble also says getting junior staffers involved in ACG events can be an important career development tool.
Other members of the ACG Los Angeles chapter who are highlighted in our Member Spotlights section have been with the organization since the early 2000s. They say they enjoy bringing industry experts together, planning programming for the Annual Business Conference and spreading the word about ACG’s many benefits.
On the other side of the country, Bob Landis, who has been involved with the ACG New York chapter for many years, was named the recipient of the ACG Legend award. The founding partner of origination at Riverside is often cited as a pioneer of the business development role in private equity and credited with connecting and mentoring many people in the profession. Other members of the ACG New York chapter are also cited as adapting quickly during the pandemic when events went virtual, connecting dealmakers and reeling people into the ACG ecosystem.
From coast to coast and beyond, we hope you’re using all the tools at your disposal within ACG, connecting at DealMAX and at local events. Read on for more details about this year’s award winners and member highlights. //
If you joined ACG at DealMAX this year in Las Vegas, we hope you enjoyed the conference and its broader remit. The event, formerly known as InterGrowth, added new Operating Partner and Strategic Acquirer tracks this year, as well as continued M&A and business development panels and ample opportunities for networking.
Across ACG, we’re aiming to offer more events, content and education for members in different areas of middle-market dealmaking, value creation, operations and growth. ACG is expanding its reach to career development, diversity initiatives, sector expertise and more.
As one example, the ACG Cup competition in different regions continues to give graduate and undergraduate finance students an opportunity to solve complex business cases and present strategies involving M&A alternatives, valuation, capital markets, finance options and corporate strategy. Students gain real-world experience and the opportunity to connect with our ACG industry experts.
ACG Cleveland, meanwhile, is among many chapters providing members with career development opportunities, through a local ACG Cup competition, mentor/mentee program, and the ACG Cleveland Women in Transactions network. These and other programs are vibrant due to involvement of many volunteer board members including representation from The Riverside Company. (Riverside is also the recipient of the Private Equity Firm of the Year Award highlighted in this issue.)
While many of our members are focusing on sector specialties and specific industry niches, ACG is offering more targeted events, content and initiatives. The ACG Los Angeles, New York and Chicago chapters recently hosted conferences focused on consumer, healthcare and manufacturing sectors, respectively. ACG has also formed a committee tasked with increasing ACG’s visibility among sector specialists and partnering with industry-specific conferences. ACG will now have a presence at trade shows, starting with Global Pet Expo and America’s Beauty Show, to make introductions to sector experts who might not be well-versed in M&A.
As our membership grows and continues to progress, we aim to be a one-stop shop for members across the career, function and sector spectrum. We look forward to connecting with you at events old and new. //
The MAX Awards were introduced this year to recognize firms and individuals who are making an impact on both ACG and the broader dealmaking ecosystem.
Middle Market Growth editors compiled a list of 15 finalists for the three firm-level categories— Private Equity Firm of the Year, Investment Bank of the Year and Lender of the Year—based on their 2022 dealmaking activity, according to PitchBook data; and their engagement with ACG, through events and membership. ACG chapter board members voted in January on those finalists to determine the winner for each category.
A fourth category, ACG Legend, recognizes an ACG member who demonstrates excellence in their field, a longstanding commitment to ACG and meaningful contributions to the broader dealmaking community. ACG chapter board members were encouraged to submit write-ins for the ACG Legend Award, and the ACG headquarters’ board of directors selected the ultimate winner.
All winners were recognized onstage at ACG’s annual conference, DealMAX, and in the written profiles that follow in this magazine edition.
VICE PRESIDENT, ACG MEDIA
Jackie D’Antonio jdantonio@acg.org
CONTENT DIRECTOR
Kathryn Mulligan kmulligan@acg.org
SENIOR EDITOR
Anastasia Donde adonde@acg.org
DIGITAL EDITOR
Carolyn Vallejo cvallejo@acg.org
ART DIRECTOR, ACG MEDIA
Michelle Bruno mbruno@acg.org
CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER
Harry Nikpour hnikpour@acg.org
SENIOR DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
Kaitlyn Gregorio kgregorio@acg.org
Association for Corporate Growth membership@acg.org www.acg.org
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Middle Market Growth’s first-ever MAX Awards recognize the firms of the year across private equity, investment banking and lending. See the 15 finalists in each category as well as an in-depth profile of each winning firm. A fourth award category, ACG Legend, honors a standout dealmaker who has made a mark on both the M&A industry and on ACG.
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The Riverside Company received this year’s MAX Award in the private equity category for its high 2022 transaction volume and longstanding involvement in ACG across the country.
PNC Bank took home top honors in the MAX Awards’ lending category for its strong lending activity in 2022 and its representation through sponsorship and board involvement in ACG St. Louis, Charlotte and other markets.
As the work-from-anywhere business model continues to take hold, the leaders of several businesses share how G-P has helped them hire across the globe.
Houlihan Lokey has bet on expansion and diversification in recent years while maintaining an active presence in ACG, earning the firm the Investment Bank of the Year Award.
Analysis from GF Data shows continued high valuations for private mid-market companies compared with their public peers, a phenomenon that’s making add-on deals more attractive for middle-market investors.
Over his career, The Riverside Company’s Robert Landis has helped shape the private equity business development role, mentored a new generation of origination professionals and made a lasting mark on ACG.
ACG is only as strong as its members and volunteers. We asked 14 of them from across North America about how they’ve contributed to the association and the role ACG has played in their careers.
The Riverside Company was named Private Equity Firm of the Year in part for its 2022 deal activity, as well as for its role in the broader M&A ecosystem. A pioneer in its approach to origination, Riverside has distinguished itself for being communicative and direct when screening deals. The firm also remains committed to the smaller end of the middle market, even as it has grown. Riverside professionals, meanwhile, have made their mark on ACG, helping to establish and expand new initiatives, from ACG New York’s annual wine tasting event to the ACG LA Private Equity poker tournament.
ABRY PARTNERS
ALPINE INVESTORS
AUDAX PRIVATE EQUITY
GRYPHON INVESTORS
H.I.G. CAPITAL
HURON CAPITAL
LLR PARTNERS
MIDOCEAN PARTNERS
NEWSPRING CAPITAL
PLATINUM EQUITY
RIDGEMONT EQUITY PARTNERS
TRINITY HUNT PARTNERS
TRIVE CAPITAL
TRIVEST PARTNERS
he Riverside Company has come a long way from its start in 1988, when Founder and Co-CEO Béla Szigethy launched the firm in his Riverside Drive apartment in New York as an independent sponsor without much capital. By 2004, Riverside had grown its assets under management to $1 billion and now boasts as much as $14 billion in assets under management and 16 offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific.
Despite the blockbuster growth, the firm has remained focused on what it calls “the smaller end of the middle market,” where Riverside executives can find unique investment opportunities for limited partners. As the firm continued to grow its offices, staff and strategies, people who have worked with executives there say Riverside personnel have remained accessible and communicative.
The firm’s approach has worked well for Riverside. Its fund performance has been commendable at a time when public stocks and other investments were down, according to Stewart Kohl, co-CEO at Riverside. “The companies you own have to grow and succeed regardless of macroeconomic conditions,” Kohl says.
Despite a variety of market headwinds in 2022, Riverside made about 32 platform investments and 87 add-on acquisitions. The firm’s control equity/ buyout strategy houses roughly 77 companies, which grew their sales by 14% and EBITDA by 11% compared with calendar year 2021, Kohl says.
Delivering returns to investors and continuing to put money to work despite macro challenges hinge on “being a better buyer and a better owner,” Kohl says. To become a better buyer, Riverside has developed specializations based on deep sector expertise and then developed investment theses.
For example, Riverside has a lot of confidence in what it calls the SSCRM (safety, security, compliance and risk mitigation) thesis. The firm has made almost 50 platform investments in the sector with many more add-ons, and Kohl thinks these services at schools, religious institutions, offices and other establishments will grow. A page on the firm’s website says that “SSCRM companies have growth potential because they help customers avoid or minimize bad outcomes. In an increasingly complex world with a variety of threats to health and security, companies that mitigate or eliminate risk are generally wellpositioned to succeed.”
“We’re active investors in that thesis, and the companies in that bucket have
outperformed the portfolio as a whole,” says Kohl.
Some of Riverside’s 2022 acquisitions across sectors include ProVelocity, a Colorado-based IT service provider that helps businesses and government agencies manage their technology needs; Montel, a Norwegian provider of energy and power market information; Siffron, an Illinoisbased designer and manufacturer of merchandise display and lossprevention fixtures in stores; and ESHA Research, an Oregon-based provider of nutrition analysis and regulatory compliant labeling software and services.
Eliot Peters, a principal in investment banking at RA Capital in San Diego, advised ESHA in its sale to Riverside. He says Riverside is communicative and direct in its approach to screening deals. “They’re very deliberate in the way they operate. If they don’t like an opportunity, they’ll give us a fast thumbs-down and don’t waste our time. If they like something, they lean in and are very proactive,” he says. Peters had brought about a dozen other opportunities before Riverside over the years.
The ESHA auction was a competitive process that had two finalists at the end, Peters says. Riverside was selected based on the best price and terms and how engaged they were
They have a team- oriented, thoughtful and disciplined sourcing process that was one of the first of its kind and now extends across all of the firm’s investment strategies.
PAM NIGHTINGALE Managing Director, Financial Sponsors, Piper Sandler
with the company. “They listened to the management team and highlighted aspects of their organization where they could be helpful to the business,” Peters says. “All eight of the senior team members unanimously thought Riverside was the best buyer.”
Pam Nightingale, managing director, financial sponsors at investment bank Piper Sandler, says Riverside has a strong origination approach that makes the firm stand out in the industry. “They have a teamoriented, thoughtful and disciplined sourcing process that was one of the first of its kind and now extends across all of the firm’s investment strategies,” she says. Nightingale has worked with Riverside for close to 15 years, and Piper Sandler has sold Riverside a number of businesses, including Harvey Performance Company, a provider of cutting tools for precision machining, and SureWerx, a supplier of professional safety products, tools and equipment.
For the companies Riverside owns, being better owners means having hands-on operating partners engaged with the portfolio companies on a continued basis, Kohl says. Since hiring the firm’s first operating partner in 1997, Riverside has grown the team to 70. The operating partners usually chair or sit on the board of portfolio companies and help them grow. “If something goes wrong, they’re quick about letting us know and fixing it,” Kohl says. The firm’s operating partners are often attached to fund families and assigned based on industry or functional expertise, depending on their background.
In the 35 years since Riverside’s inception, the firm has bucked the trend of moving up market as it’s gotten larger. Kohl says the companies it invests in tend to range from $10 million to $400 million in enterprise value. Some deals in recent years have gotten larger within this range as multiples have crept up. But as measured by the EBITDA at acquisition, platform size has remained stable. According to Riverside’s website, its buyout Capital Appreciation strategy usually targets platform investments with $10 million to $35 million in EBITDA. The firm’s Micro-Cap strategy, designed for smaller deals, focuses on businesses with $10 million in EBITDA or less.
“We believe that small is beautiful and invest where there is potential to grow and create value,” Kohl says. “We bring unique resources to achieve this outcome.”
Although Riverside has remained focused on the smaller end of the middle market, the firm has expanded its capabilities in other ways. In addition to its traditional private equity buyout strategy, Riverside has also added flexible capital and private credit arms. The flexible capital division makes non-control investments in a variety of companies, while the flexible capital arm offers debt capital to sponsored and nonsponsored companies.
In addition to adding the Micro-Cap strategy to target lower middlemarket businesses, Riverside launched other efforts aiming at European investments and companies with 30 million euros or less in EBITDA. Its Australia and New Zealand team targets companies in those countries with EBITDA of $3 million to $20 million over the prior 12 months. The firm
Founded in
1988
16 Headquartered in Cleveland and New York City with offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia-Pacific
300+ Employees
$14B Assets under management
23 ACG members in 2022
80 ACG events attended
H In March 2023, Riverside hosted more than 300 employees at its Global Riverside Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona
[Cheryl] helped the chapter navigate through the tumultuous period coming out of COVID.
also has a Riverside Technology Capital Solutions division, which invests exclusively in technology companies, and Riverside Value, which targets special situations investments in businesses with unique challenges. These companies usually have $75 million or more in revenue.
The expansion globally and across strategies has helped Riverside be flexible and engaged when traditional platform buyout opportunities are not as plentiful, says Jonathan Zucker, head of capital advisory at Intrepid Investment Bankers in Los Angeles. Zucker has worked with Riverside on a variety of deals. “We’ve sold them businesses and helped them sell businesses. They’re always highly involved in the process and responsive. Part of it, I think, is their Midwest roots—they give off a nice, good people kind of vibe.” Riverside has two headquarters: one in Cleveland, where Kohl is based, and the other in New York under Szigethy’s leadership.
The Riverside Company launched a new value investing arm in 2019, after bringing on managing partner Sean Ozbolt from Aurora Resurgence, an Aurora Capital Partners arm focused on special situations in the middle market. In late 2021, Riverside launched its Riverside Value Fund I, targeting a $350 million fundraise and turnaround investments, according to Buyouts Insider and LP documents. The firm’s presence and expansion in Los Angeles stemmed in part from the build-out of the value investing team there. “It’s a different strategy that addresses different investment opportunities and allows them to be flexible,” says Zucker, adding that special situations/distressed investing, minority/non-control options and private credit let the firm cast a wider net beyond just traditional buyouts.
Zucker sits on the ACG Los Angeles board of directors, where he has come
to know Jeremy Holland, a managing partner in origination at Riverside. Holland is part of the Private Equity Roundtable Committee within ACG LA, where fellow members say he is well respected. “He is very well networked, very responsive and exemplary on being thoughtful in different ways, not just finding deals,” Zucker says. Holland is often helpful in connecting people on other deals that might not be a fit for Riverside or helping people find jobs in the industry.
“For a large organization, they still feel small in terms of access and communication,” says RA Capital’s Peters. “Riverside executives will often tell bankers what they think as they are pitching deals and communicate generally on what they’re seeing and hearing in the market.
“Even as they’ve grown, we’ve never lost access to them; they keep their relationships,” he adds, noting that he’s still in regular contact with Holland, while other firms tend to pass contacts over to junior staffers as they grow.
Holland and other senior Riverside executives have been active in the ACG community for some time. All in all, Riverside had 23 staffers as ACG members in 2022, and Riverside employees attended 80 of the association’s events last year.
Bob Landis, founding partner in origination at Riverside, chairs the ACG New York chapter and is also this year’s recipient of the ACG Legend Award. Cheryl Strom, a partner in origination in Cleveland, is on the board of the ACG Cleveland chapter and served as its president in 2022.
“She helped the chapter navigate through the tumultuous period coming out of COVID,” says Corrie Menary, a partner at Kirtland Capital Partners and board member at ACG Cleveland. “They do a lot to encourage the M&A community and they’re not selfish. Their goal is to see deals get done, even if it’s not their deal.” Menary’s firm does smaller deals than Riverside, and she says Riverside has facilitated introductions and referrals on deals that fall outside their size parameters. “One of their pillars is: Leave good references in your wake,” she adds.
Riverside has been engaged in a number of ACG initiatives, including sponsoring the Great Lakes Capital Connection and other regional events. Strom and Pam Hendrickson, vice chairman and former COO at Riverside, have been instrumental in hosting events to help young women learn about and join the deal making industry.
Piper Sandler’s Nightingale says Riverside employs “a deep bench of talented women” and was one of the first in private equity to hire and retain women at all levels within the organization, contributing to the diversity of its staff.
Strom cites examples of Riverside’s efforts to promote inclusion in private equity, which she says include “hosting and funding career development dinners for junior and entry-level women and bringing on paid interns from the nonprofit 51 Vets, in order to help give military veterans on-the-job experience, so they may successfully transition to the financial services industry.” //
ANASTASIA DONDE is Middle Market Growth’s senior editor.
There are two routes to take when writing that first sentence.
This route takes a little research. You may find that you have one or more things in common to help kickstart the relationship. Did you attend the same school? Is there an upcoming conference you' ll both be attending?
This route will take less research. You are wellversed in your firm's value proposition. Showcase your firm's authority in the space through industry reports or access to your network.
Regardless of which route you start your email with, always give more than you take.
When making your ask, be prepared for all possible answers: yes, no, and not yet. Successful outbound sourcing is a long-game. Very rarely will your email coincide with somebody's perfect time to sell, and move forward with your firm immediately.
Are you asking for an intro call? Offer something else in return. You could offer intros to a potential client, a potential hire, or a potential partn er.
Decide your strongest offer and always lead with value. The best dealmakers find value in every interaction - even initial no's- to be the potential leads that land them the next deal and the next promotion.
A general rule of thumb for email subject lines is to write 9 words or 60 characters or less. But what should those words be? Here are the M&A best practices for getting your email opened. Do Lead with value.
"Meeting with [a potential partner]?" Your portfolio companies can be a valuable resource to a business owner. Catch a CEO's eye by providing access to your network.
Gauge interest in funding.
"Investor Intro" Be direct and transparent. Don' t make a CEO guess your purpose. This will significantly increase chances of a target opening your email.
Don't
Lean on competitor-based information.
"We invest in [insert competitor name here]" does not establish trust. A business owner will more likely be put off than intrigued to discuss their business' goals and strategies with a competitor's investor.
Rely solely on event-based personalization.
"Congrats on Your Series XX Funding Round" sounds like a sales email. If your target has received funding recently, know that their inbox is full of "Congrats!" emails. Yours will not stand out.
PNC Bank was among the most active lenders in 2022, with strong growth in its corporate lending and asset-backed lending businesses. The firm was particularly busy with deals in the business-to-business sector. Among the Lender of the Year Award finalists, PNC stood out especially for its engagement in ACG. Membership data shows that 96 of the firm’s professionals were affiliated with ACG, and they attended more than 500 events last year. From chapters in St. Louis to Charlotte, PNC representatives are helping to shape ACG as volunteer board members, committee participants and as thought leaders on educational panels.
FINALISTS
ARES
BANK OF AMERICA
BMO FINANCIAL GROUP CITIZENS
CRESCENT CAPITAL GROUP
GOLDMAN SACHS
JPMORGAN CHASE
MIDCAP
FINANCIAL
MONROE CAPITAL TRUIST
TWIN BROOK CAPITAL PARTNERS
VARAGON CAPITAL PARTNERS
WELLS FARGO
uring times of rising capital costs, volatility and uneven business conditions, lending becomes an exercise in risk management. Lenders spent 2022 trying to look through economic and business data that often told an incomplete or unclear story.
PNC rose to the top of the ranks for ACG’s Lender of the Year Award, in part because of its ability to make sense of the data and transact.
According to data from the Loan Pricing Corporation, PNC Bank was the fourth most active middle-market asset-based lending bookrunner in 2022, based on number of deals. PNC lends across sectors but was particularly busy with business-to-business deals.
PNC’s fourth-quarter earnings data shows that commercial loans grew by more than $9 billion for the quarter, based on strong activity in both the bank’s corporate lending and asset-backed lending businesses. Bill Demchak, chairman, president and CEO of The PNC Financial Services Group, noted at a recent Goldman Sachs conference that the strength of the firm’s lending business reflects resilience within the broader market.
“I think for a decade we'll be growing the way we're growing. It's just massive target sets in these new markets. … We're patient, persistent and consistent in what we do. We get very good people. We have good products delivered locally, we win share,” he said, adding, “And we just entered a whole bunch of markets where nobody has dominant share.”
PNC’s Business Credit Group has closed over 800 deals in the past five years, with over $1 billion in financial commitments under management, according to PNC data.
PNC’s strong performance in lending is highlighted in a $105 million debt financing the bank completed alongside Blue Torch Capital, a
middle-market direct lender based in New York. The two firms provided financing to Quotient Technology, a digital media and promotions technology company based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The company used the new financing to retire maturing convertible note obligations, according to a press release.
Quotient Technology is in an industry that fared well over the past few years. Companies and consumer brands turned to digital marketing and digital experiences during the pandemic and have maintained spending in these areas as economies reopened. Spending on digital marketing reached $567.49 billion in 2022, up from $522.5 billion in 2021, according to data from Insider Intelligence.
PNC also expanded a credit facility for Evans Transportation Services, an end-to-end logistics and transportation provider. While the full terms of the credit facility were not disclosed, Evans Transportation Services CEO Ryan Keepman said in a statement that the financing would be used to support the business, which plans to grow by at least 10% in 2023. The company has increased its revenue from $80 million to $400 million since 2018.
The company said it sought a banking partner that would provide competitive terms but also match its business philosophy.
“When it comes to selecting a financial partner, it’s about more than just financial solidity. There has to be a deeper understanding and connection between business philosophies,” said Jason Mansur, president of Evans. “That’s what we found with PNC Bank—a strategic financial advisor that understands and wants the same things we want for our customers.”
Over the years, PNC has crafted a lending practice that includes a variety of solutions. The bank offers senior secured financing from $10 million to $1 billion for middle-market transactions, including recapitalizations and turnarounds, in addition to more traditional financing for acquisitions, expansion or short-term needs. PNC also works directly with private equity firms on sponsor finance for portfolio companies.
Steel City Capital Funding, a division of PNC Bank, works as a direct lender providing junior secured and secondlien lending for the middle market. Steel City can work alongside PNC’s senior secured or asset-based lending divisions to create custom financing arrangements.
PNC has also developed several internal focus groups with expertise
We're patient, persistent and consistent in what we do. We get very good people. We have good products delivered locally, we win share.
BILL DEMCHAK Chairman, President and CEO, PNC Financial Services Group
in particular sectors of the economy. These groups are brought in for relevant transactions to analyze and prescreen businesses and later can provide industry- specific consultation to clients. Sources who have worked with PNC in the past note that these groups often provide helpful market intelligence, including industry research and news.
PNC has established itself as a visible participant in the middle-market dealmaking community, in part through its active involvement in ACG.
“PNC is a valuable contributor to ACG chapters in many different markets,” says Betsy Bryan Mandl, executive director of ACG Charlotte. “They have members who are
We have built a terrific culture over the past 25 years, focused on teamwork and collaboration with our clients and referral sources.
PETER MARDAGA CEO, PNC Business Credit
actively involved and also participate in chapter leadership and sponsorship opportunities.”
According to ACG data, 96 PNC professionals were ACG members in 2022. Some of these representatives of the firm also serve as volunteer board members for their local chapters, helping to shape the strategic direction for the organization, increase membership, develop programs for events and more. PNC’s employees attended more than 500 ACG events last year.
PNC leaders describe ACG as playing a key role for middle-market dealmaking and corporate growth as well as for PNC.
“ACG is an important forum for the exchange of ideas, continuing education and the future of the industry,” says Peter Mardaga, CEO of PNC Business Credit. His group provides senior secured financing for midsize companies and private equity firms throughout the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
“Participating and partnering with organizations such as ACG provide the opportunity to share and gain expertise through thought leadership, presentations, panel discussions, events and networking,” he continues. “These activities advance our team individually as well as the entire industry.”
ACG St. Louis is among the chapters where PNC is actively involved. Mandy Pitzer Fritz, a vice president in PNC’s St. Louis Corporate Banking group, is the membership chair for her local ACG chapter, where PNC is a platinumlevel sponsor.
In her role as a volunteer with ACG St. Louis, Pitzer Fritz works on approving new members while contributing to a number of other internal ACG initiatives, including those aimed at expanding ACG’s reach and offerings.
Amy Ruebsam, who serves as CEO of ACG’s Midwest and Great Lakes regions and as executive director of
ACG St. Louis, says that PNC’s contributions have been good for ACG and have helped to strengthen the chapter.
Headquartered in 800+ Deals closed in past 5 years by PNC’s Business Credit Group
Pittsburgh
“ACG St. Louis benefits from a valuable partnership with PNC that is multifaceted,” she says. “PNC has elevated their commitment to the chapter by serving as volunteers on the ACG St. Louis Advisory Board and various committees, as well as thought leaders on educational panels.”
96 ACG members in 2022
501 ACG events attended in 2022
The balance of 2023 is likely to be another period of business uncertainty. Interest rates will continue to rise for the foreseeable future, and economists haven’t ruled out a recession just yet. Lenders across the board have taken a cautious approach to the start of the year, according to deal flow data from Fitch Ratings.
When markets are volatile, it’s important to focus on risk management. Sources say that many lenders are spending extra time on due diligence and are looking closely at whether borrowers can withstand an economic slowdown. Veteran lending teams are likely to lean on the advice of their industry specialists and focus on high-quality deals.
Mardaga says the bank plans to continue with strong activity this year.
“We have built a terrific culture over the past 25 years, focused on teamwork and collaboration with our clients and referral sources,” he says. “We continue to evolve, developing new products to address ever-changing market needs. Key to this has been our consistent market presence—we provide solutions in any economic environment, executing under tight timelines with confidence and precision.” //
BAILEY M C CANN is a business writer and author based in New York.Nearly 13 years ago, Boston-based G-P founder and CEO Nicole Sahin saw a void in the market.
With remote work gaining acceptance at the time, some companies wanted to hire staff overseas, but they quickly realized complying with other countries’ varying payroll practices and labor laws made it all but impossible to expand internationally.
As a result, Sahin created Globalization Partners—now called G-P—to solve that problem.
An employer of record company, G-P takes care of hiring, payroll, human resources and labor law compliance, taking the risk and headache out of the process.
When Sahin started her company,
she couldn’t have known that a global pandemic would accelerate the workfrom-anywhere business model for middle-market companies.
A McKinsey & Co. report, called the American Opportunity Survey, surveyed 25,000 workers in spring 2022 about remote work and found that 58% reported they could work remotely at least part of the time. About 35% said they were offered remote work on a full-time basis. About 87% reported that if they were offered remote work, they would take it.
As remote work has become more popular, G-P—through its wholly owned infrastructure model—has paved the way for many businesses to hire the staff they need, wherever they live.
“We took off as the pandemic hit,” says Kevin Burke, G-P’s director, M&A, private equity and venture capital. “So that was the catalyst for us but also our industry, too. It’s been a fascinating ride to see how it’s grown.”
When Watertown, Massachusettsbased EditShare wanted to expand internationally, it quickly realized that establishing a legal entity to do so would be too cumbersome.
“[Establishing legal entities in each country] requires a pretty heavy lift in terms of resources to maintain compliance. In most instances, it also locks you into that country in a pretty big way,” Jackie Hazan, vice president of
people operations at EditShare, told G-P for a case study published on G-P’s website. “For a small and growing organization, this just doesn’t make sense.”
EditShare picked G-P over competitors due to its wholly owned infrastructure model, which allows EditShare’s international employees to interact with a streamlined interface.
While EditShare’s international employees complete work for the company just like local employees, they technically work for G-P, which assumes all the human resources and payroll responsibilities associated with the country where the employees live.
This is the case with all G-P’s clients, whose international staff technically work for G-P while performing the work on a day-to-day basis for the client, just like local staff.
Unlike local staff, EditShare’s international employees interact with G-P’s dashboard interface for payroll and human resources-related matters. It was essential to EditShare that the interface was easy to use so international employees felt they were treated fairly and were part of the company culture.
“We want them [employees] to look and feel like regular employees,
regardless of who is doing the administrative paperwork,” Hazan told G-P. “It’s no fault of their own that we don’t have a legal entity. We don’t want them to feel like their experience is less than any other EditShare employee.”
Boston-based Snyk, a developer security platform company, had a similar issue to EditShare.
Due to the pandemic, Snyk grew at a rapid pace, far faster than expected. Between 2019 and 2021, Snyk grew from 170 to 700 employees.
Like EditShare, the company recognized that it needed help to bring on talent quickly and efficiently.
“We quickly realized that onboarding an employee in Australia is entirely different than onboarding one in the Czech Republic, and recognized we needed an experienced partner to help us expand while maintaining compliance,” Nathan Jeune-Manning, Snyk’s lead people partner, told G-P for a case study.
Snyk selected G-P because of its easy-to-use full-stack global employment platform.
“For us, it came down to useability and speed of response,”
Jeune-Manning said. “It’s a similar, consistent process with G-P in each and every country.”
While some companies are new to hiring internationally, others have overseas staff they’ve worked with for years.
San Jose, California-based cybersecurity company SonicWall found itself carved out from a larger entity without the ability and knowledge to support its international workforce. When the company was divested from Dell in 2016, it had many employees throughout Europe and Asia.
With employees spread across several countries, setting up legal entities was untenable.
“We had to basically build from the ground up at the same time we were experiencing unprecedented international growth,” Bryce Ashcraft, vice president of global human resources, told G-P. “The challenge was, essentially, that you’ve got a company that has existed for 25-plus years, and we’ve got to continue supporting the operations and managing our talent as seamlessly as possible.”
SonicWall picked G-P due to its wholly owned infrastructure model, which it preferred over an aggregator model where international staffers would have to interact with a thirdparty provider in each country.
Now that SonicWall has partnered with G-P, it’s able to hire talent around the world.
“The wholly owned infrastructure model is really, really important for us because there were so many errors, including miscommunication with subcontractors, under another service provider,” Ashcraft said in a case study about SonicWall’s work with G-P. “And we just couldn’t afford to have mistakes like that, because if there’s a mistake, it has a very real impact on the lives of our employees.” //
We quickly realized that onboarding an employee in Australia is entirely different than onboarding one in the Czech Republic, and recognized we needed an experienced partner to help us expand while maintaining compliance.
NATHAN JEUNE-MANNING
Lead People Partner, Snyk
Long a standard-bearer of middle-market M&A in the U.S., Houlihan Lokey is now recognized as the top global M&A firm for deals under $1 billion, according to Refinitiv data. As this year’s Investment Bank of the Year, Houlihan stood out not just for its deal activity but for its impressive global expansion, deep industry specialization and “no-star” ethos. The firm has been an active supporter of ACG for years, at both the local level—including in ACG Los Angeles, where Houlihan Managing Director Chris Hebble has served on the board for nearly two decades—and at the national level, through a significant presence at DealMAX.
BAIRD
BMO
HARRIS BANK
BOFA SECURITIES
CANACCORD GENUITY
GOLDMAN SACHS
HARRIS WILLIAMS
KPMG
KROLL
LINCOLN
INTERNATIONAL
PIPER SANDLER
RAYMOND JAMES
FINANCIAL
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TD COWEN
INVESTMENT BANKING
WILLIAM BLAIR
lot has changed in the world of mid-market investment banking over the past 50 years—and a lot has remained the same. That too can be said for investment bank Houlihan Lokey, which was founded in 1972 in Los Angeles, where it is still headquartered today. Long a standard-bearer of middle-market M&A in the U.S., Houlihan is now recognized as a leading global firm, with 11 U.S. offices and 25 across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the Asia-Pacific region.
For Houlihan Lokey—winner of Middle Market Growth’s 2023 Investment Bank of the Year Award—building the firm’s presence worldwide has been crucial to success in an increasingly globalized age. “We’ve been a leading player in the mid-cap space in the U.S. for a long time, but until the last few years, we’ve been an up-and-comer in the rest of the world. Today, we have an extensive presence in both Europe and Asia,” says Scott Adelson, co-president and global co-head of corporate finance at the firm. In 2022, 24% of the firm’s deals were in EMEA and 5% in Asia.
Houlihan is the top global M&A firm for deals under $1 billion, working on 381 global M&A deals in 2022 compared to 369 by Rothschild & Co., its closest competitor, according to Refinitiv.
Houlihan is a leader even compared to firms beyond the middle market, ranking third in number of transactions of all sizes worldwide, behind only Rothschild and Goldman Sachs, according to Refinitiv. While Houlihan specializes in the middle market, the firm has substantial experience with larger deals across multiple industries as well.
Noteworthy larger transactions in 2022 included advising State Auto Insurance Companies during its sale to Liberty Mutual Insurance for $1 billion in February; advising Apollo Hybrid Value
Funds on its acquisition of GI Alliance Management in September, which valued the company at $2.2 billion; and advising Kohlberg & Co. on its acquisition of United States Infrastructure Corp. in November, which valued the business at $4.1 billion.
Houlihan’s international presence has been growing for some time now. Adelson pinpoints the firm’s IPO in August 2015 as the beginning of a new era. A deliberate inorganic growth strategy has also enabled Houlihan to gain a presence on the ground in multiple new countries and across continents. Notably, Houlihan
This year’s investment bank of the year skates to victory with an expanding global footprint and broad industry expertiseF Houlihan Lokey CoPresident and Global Co-Head, Corporate Finance, Scott Adelson
acquired McQueen Limited, a leading London-based independent advisory firm, in September 2015 and bought the investment banking operations of European firm Leonardo & Co. in November 2015. More recently, the acquisition of technology advisory firm GCA Corporation in October 2021 expanded Houlihan’s presence significantly in Europe and Asia.
“Now, we can bring the same level of deal expertise to a much broader set of clients than ever before,” says Larry DeAngelo, managing director and global head of the business services group at Houlihan.
For example, in December 2022, Houlihan advised Phenna Group, a
This isn’t some hideous market we’re in. It’s just that we were in an exuberant market—and we’ve returned to normal. Unfortunately, when you’ve been living in exuberance, normal feels rotten.
SCOTT ADELSON
Co-President and Global Co-Head of Corporate Finance, Houlihan Lokey
global testing, inspection, certification and compliance platform, on a secondary investment from Oakley Capital, which provided exit funding for minority investor Inflexion. “The transaction was executed out of our U.K. office and required a global experience set in the testing, inspection and measurement subvertical from both our U.S. and European colleagues. We wouldn’t have been able to do the broad relationshipbuilding required for the deal without our extensive international presence,” says DeAngelo.
At the same time the firm has grown, it has remained true to its core values. “I’ve been seeing deals from Houlihan Lokey for my entire 20+ years in the financial industry, from when they were a private company to now as a publicly traded company,” says Cornelia Cheng, managing director, Western Region, at MGG Investment Group, who has closed deals with Houlihan while at other firms and currently serves on the board of ACG Los Angeles. “They have been a premier investment bank in the Southern California region for a long time. They always see all the opportunities and do an excellent job matching them up with the right lender or private equity firm.” Now, with the firm’s increased capabilities—Houlihan has over 2,500 global employees—they can offer these services to a wide variety of other markets.
“Our real focus as a firm is on being in the flow of transactions,” says Adelson. One of the primary ways Houlihan accomplishes this goal is through intensive industry specialization, which provides a competitive advantage over other firms.
“A typical bulge bracket firm has a business services group. They might have a person who specializes in
Image by Scott Areman1972
marketing services, but that’s not likely,” explains Adelson. “Houlihan, on the other hand, has a team of people who don’t just cover marketing services but pharma marketing services and, beyond that, new pharma marketing services. It’s multiple teams of senior people and junior staff in nearly every sector you can think of.”
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This is a viable strategy in large part because of Houlihan’s mid-cap focus. “If we were focused on larger cap deals, there just wouldn’t be enough opportunities,” says Adelson.
Houlihan was a leading advisor across multiple industries in 2022 in the U.S., according to Refinitiv. Compared to competitors, the firm advised on the highest number of U.S. deals under $1 billion in the business services; consumer, food and retail; technology; industrials; and healthcare categories.
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Houlihan’s focus on industry specialization has continued to grow in recent years. “When I first joined the firm in 2016, there was a hybrid industry and regional coverage model in place, where people worked with businesses depending on a combination of their location and industry. Today, we’re almost 100% industry focused,” says DeAngelo. This is possible in part because of a large headcount increase firmwide. “The business services practice has 128 people in the U.S. and Europe—up from 12 people when I started at the firm—and now covers 12 industry verticals.”
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The division closed 79 deals worldwide last year. Two notable recent deals include advising on the sale of testing, inspection and certification company National Technical Systems to Element Materials Technology in September 2022 and the sale of waste and recycling company Rogue Waste to Waste Connections in October 2022.
Clients seek out Houlihan specifically
for this industry expertise. Connecticutbased private equity firm Amulet Capital engaged Houlihan to advise on the sale of its portfolio company OPEN Health, a global provider of scientific communications and market access services to the pharmaceutical industry.
“OPEN Health was a flagship investment for Amulet,” says Nick Amigone, partner at Amulet Capital. “We had built the company very intentionally around our thesis in medical affairs, forming the company through three complementary acquisitions and then driving abovemarket organic growth. When it came time to exit our investment, we hired Houlihan because we wanted an advisor who knew the market cold.”
Amulet was looking for an advisor that understood how best to position OPEN Health in the market, while achieving the private equity firm’s valuation expectations. “Houlihan differentiated itself through its knowledge
We send 30-40 bankers to DealMAX every year, and that’s because of the immense amount of connectivity you can establish in three days’ time.
CHRIS HEBBLE Managing Director, Capital Markets, Houlihan LokeyH Houlihan Managing Director Chris Hebble at InterGrowth in 2018
of the market, experience in past transactions and direct relationships with the buyer universe,” says Amigone. Amulet worked primarily with Mark Martin, managing director at Houlihan and the lead for the firm’s pharma services and marketing services efforts. OPEN Health ultimately sold to European private equity firm Astorg in July 2022.
Houlihan Lokey has grown tremendously in recent years, and with that, some change is inevitable. “But our culture has remained intact,” says Adelson. “The same spirit of partnership and entrepreneurship that existed in 1987 when I joined is still there today.”
Chris Hebble, managing director, capital markets, at Houlihan and a board member for ACG Los Angeles, left the firm in 2004 but then returned in 2015, in large part because of its unique culture. “It’s like a family—it’s a great place to work, and it’s where I wanted to be,” he says.
Multiple employees speak to Houlihan’s no-star ethos. The core components of the firm’s cultural DNA, according to Adelson, include a focus on collaboration, a drive to succeed and grow both as a team and individually, and an overarching emphasis on client relationships. “For us, it’s all about people,” says Adelson. “We don’t have a balance sheet; we’re not offering money. Our business is intellectual capital—advice, expertise, relationships—and that business continues to grow and be successful.”
Houlihan Lokey’s involvement in ACG events has been wide and deep for many years now, particularly in the Los Angeles chapter and at the national level. “We send 30-40 bankers to DealMAX [formerly known as
InterGrowth] every year, and that’s because of the immense amount of connectivity you can establish in three days’ time. Our presence there typically translates to over 250 meetings. The immediate access to meetings and the deal flow that comes out of it is invaluable,” says Hebble, who has been on the ACG Los Angeles board for nearly 20 years.
ACG events and involvement serve as an important career development tool for junior staff, helping them market themselves and understand trends and key players in the middle market. Seventeen Houlihan Lokey employees were ACG members in 2022, and the firm’s employees attended 62 events, according to data collected by ACG.
Despite current market conditions, Houlihan Lokey is optimistic about the future. “Our pipeline is actually bigger this year than last,” says DeAngelo. That said, he acknowledges that given the state of the debt capital markets and a lack of credit availability, some deals are on ice and likely will continue to be until the market is more liquid. “Our clients want to get a little more clarity on the economy and feel good about financing the business at reasonable levels and interest rates.”
Houlihan’s diversified business model—across clients, geographies, industries and bankers—also contributes to the firm’s confidence going into this economic cycle. In fiscal year 2022, no single transaction fee represented more than 2% of the firm’s revenue, and no single banker was responsible for more than 2% of revenues. The firm served a wide range of industries, including financial institutions; energy; healthcare; industrials; consumer, food and retail; business services; and technology. No single industry made up more than 20% of deals. Furthermore, the investment bank’s clients are a diversified mix of public and government-owned companies, and private equitybacked and private non-sponsored companies.
In general, for M&A to pick up, the key is for everyone involved to adjust to the new normal, notes Adelson. “This isn’t some hideous market we’re in. It’s just that we were in an exuberant market—and we’ve returned to normal. Unfortunately, when you’ve been living in exuberance, normal feels rotten. But the truth is that interest rates aren’t particularly high, they’re just high compared to all-time lows.”
Players on the buy-side and sell-side need to recalibrate to this reality. “Business owners may have been planning to sell for an enormous amount before the market fell apart, and now they’re struggling with the fact that multiples are down,” says Adelson. “But whatever assets they were going to buy went down as much or more.”
Houlihan doesn’t “tend to be an organization that makes giant leaps,” Adelson adds. The firm has been in the business long enough to recognize that markets move up and down and that strategies must change accordingly. The firm’s best bet for success is to stay true to its values while cultivating flexibility and adapting to the new normal, whatever it may be. It’s an approach that has paid off many times over in the past and helped Houlihan Lokey grow into the market-leading firm it is today. //
was 7.5x, which was a hair more than the 7.4x average recorded in 2021.
While valuations cooled at the end of the year on markedly lower deal volume in the fourth quarter—which we attribute to concern about corporate performance and the macro conditions referred to above—the impact still pales in comparison to the dent public market valuations experienced last year (see chart). Just 64 deals were closed by GF Data contributors in the fourth quarter compared to 172 in 4Q 2021. The S&P 500 through last September lost nearly a quarter of its value, and we recorded the narrowest spread between midmarket and public pricing since 2016.
ANDY GREENBERG Founder, GF DataHedge fund manager Cliff Asness once noted what he called the illiquidity discount in private markets. By Asness’ reasoning, one of the benefits of investing in private equity was to be insulated from the day-today gyrations of the public markets with their daily reckoning—and investors are willing to pay more for this feature.
That value proposition proved true at the conclusion of 2022, as multiples on midmarket private equity transactions dropped markedly at the end of the year but were still more buoyant than public market peers.
The middle market was poised for a retreat prior to the end of the year as increased macroeconomic uncertainty, a pullback in cash flow-based debt and increased borrowing charges were sure to take hold.
After reaching a 10.2x TTM EBITDA spread between the average S&P 500 company and the average purchase price of companies in GF Data’s database, the spread dropped to just 4.8x EBITDA last year—12.3x EBITDA for the S&P compared to 7.5x EBITDA for midmarket buyouts—close to the 4.6x average spread recorded over the last 20 years.
In the meantime, the standard deviation for the GF Data sample set reached 2.4 in 2022, its highest level since inception, which underscores another point we’ve made here previously: There’s a big difference between above-average companies, which will continue to trade at lofty multiples regardless of market conditions, and the average business, which will need to either hold off on selling to see if the deal cycle improves or accept lower pricing.
BOB DUNN Managing Director, GF Data
In the fourth quarter, the retreat materialized. Valuations on deals completed in the quarter averaged 6.8x trailing twelve months (TTM) adjusted EBITDA, down from 7.7x in the first nine months of the year, according to reporting by GF Data, an ACG company. For the full year, the 271 private equity firms that contribute data reported on 297 transactions meeting GF Data’s base parameters—total enterprise value (TEV) of $10 million-$250 million and TEV/TTM adjusted EBITDA of 3x-18x. The average purchase price multiple
Over the past year, we have paid close attention to the swelling “quality premium”— our measure of the spread in multiples applied to selling businesses with aboveaverage financials compared to the rest of the pack. (GF Data defines companies with 10% TTM EBITDA margin and at least 10% revenue growth in the prior year as above average.) The percentage of completed buyout transactions meeting our “above-average” designation jumped from the mid-50s to 54% in 2021 and 71% in the first nine months of 2022. With the conclusion of Q4, that figure declined to 68% for the whole year.
Despite dropping in 2022, mid-market multiples were still higher than their public market peers
This suggests a reversal in the mindset of sellers of more and less desirable businesses. At the time that owners with better prospects were holding out, a subset of owners with less-favored businesses who’d been resisting a sale concluded that it no longer made sense to wait out the market.
Another dynamic that kept mid-market valuations up versus public peers is structural: As debt markets have become more constrained and expensive (average initial pricing on senior debt reached 6.5% in the second half of 2022, compared to an average of 4.7% in the first half of last year), platform buyouts have become more challenging. As a result, larger firms are increasingly shopping
the middle market for add-ons, which can be financed through an existing debt facility. While this no doubt dampens pricing, it also provides a backstop that public companies don’t have. Similarly, we have heard that mezzanine firms in the fourth quarter were seeing higher quality credits and an influx of business as buyers considered financing options. This appears to have translated into a more than four percentage point increase in average use of subordinated debt on deals valued between $100 million and $250 million—to 9.6% for all of last year compared to 5.4% in 2021. Again, an advantage that middle-market buyers have that public companies do not. //
GF Data collects and reports on platform and add-on acquisitions completed by private equity funds and other deal sponsors in the $10 million to $500 million enterprise value range.
The exponential increase in both frequency and severity of cybersecurity breaches over the past few years has prompted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to propose significant new cybersecurity rules. These rules will require registered investment advisers and investment companies to enhance and standardize their cybersecurity risk management, strategy, governance, and incident reporting. The primary objective of these proposals is to address the threat to investor confidence, as a decrease in investor confidence can directly impact a private equity firm’s ability to raise capital and generate returns.
The consequences of a cybersecurity incident can be profound, resulting in far-reaching and long-lasting effects that can compromise a firm’s financial stability, reputation, and intellectual property. Consequently, private equity firms must adopt proactive measures to mitigate cybersecurity risks. This includes implementing robust security policies and procedures, conducting frequent vulnerability assessments, providing comprehensive employee training and awareness programs, and consistently monitoring their cybersecurity performance.
Private equity firms should also formulate a comprehensive cybersecurity plan, outlining the strategies, policies, and procedures required to safeguard against cyber threats. The plan should include a documented incident response protocol and a roadmap for implementing security controls and measures aimed at mitigating identified risks. Regular cybersecurity audits should be scheduled to evaluate the effectiveness of the firm’s cybersecurity program and identify any weaknesses or vulnerabilities that may exist.
Moreover, private equity firms must routinely conduct preand post-acquisition assessments of target companies to identify potential cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities, the efficacy of cybersecurity policies, procedures, and controls, and identify any data privacy and regulatory compliance risks. A robust vendor management program is also a critical component in mitigating third-party cyber risk.
Private equity firms should ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards, which are typically prescribed in cybersecurity frameworks such as PCI and SOC2. Outsourcing cybersecurity and compliance solutions to qualified firms is often more effective and cost-efficient than attempting to handle it in-house.
Abacode is a leading cybersecurity and compliance firm that works closely with private equity and the advisory sector to provide cutting-edge cybersecurity and compliance solutions. Abacode’s cybersecurity framework encompasses people, processes, and technology, designed to protect businesses from a range of cyber threats, including hacking, ransomware, and data breaches. Through its MCCP CoreTM approach,
risks. Complying with
and formulating Abacode’s comprehensive approach to cybersecurity over
Abacode’s cybersecurity and compliance solutions are combined into one holistic program, aligning cybersecurity efforts with regulatory and legal obligations, streamlining the process of implementing security controls, and enhancing communication and collaboration between different teams within the organization. The rising threat of cybercrime, coupled with the increase in government oversight, necessitates private equity firms to adopt proactive measures to mitigate cybersecurity risks. Complying with relevant regulations and standards, conducting pre- and post-acquisition assessments of target companies, and formulating a comprehensive cybersecurity plan that encompasses people, processes, and technology are all critical components of an effective cybersecurity program. Abacode’s comprehensive approach to cybersecurity and compliance provides several advantages over other cybersecurity solutions, leading to improved security, better compliance, and more efficient operations.
In conclusion, organizations cannot depend solely on procuring cyber products and solutions. One of the most overlooked factors is engaging a partner capable of advising, implementing, and managing a structured program that operates independently of internal or external IT functions. This approach ensures proper checks and balances, akin to the best practices of tax and audit.
To learn more about how Abacode helps private equity firms increase investor confidence, contact:
Mark Harless Partner Alliance Executive Abacode Cybersecurity & Compliance mark.harless@abacode.com
allowed PE to gain complete visibility and control of a holistic program while decreasing risk and accelerating cost efficient results.
IN TODAY’S FAST- PACED private equity world, limited partners will often turn their noses up at firms that don’t employ a business development professional. But that wasn’t always the case. Twenty years ago, when Robert “Bob” Landis was one of the very first business development professionals in the industry, he and the handful of others who were tasked with finding solid investment prospects for their firms had to justify their existence to everyone, including LPs.
In the early 2000s most of the industry didn’t understand or appreciate the role of business development. “There was just a handful of us. We would get together and talk about why we thought we were important to
Robert Landis, Founding Partner, Origination, The Riverside Company
our firms, even when no one else thought we were. LPs would often ask why we had a BD function,” recalls Landis, founding partner of origination at The Riverside Company. “The partners are smart, no question, but they were focused inward, and didn’t always have the right temperament to generate relationships. Sometimes they did not relate well and know how to talk to founders who had put their heart and souls into building a company. We, on the other hand, had the know-how to make the connections between the business owners and our teams. It’s an acquired skill.”
Despite not being appreciated in his role immediately, today Landis is highly regarded as a father of private equity deal origination nationally. The business development role is now a must-have position at private equity firms.
“Bob was a pioneer as the dedicated BD person. He was always great at building relationships and telling companies honestly what the story was. People also knew that when Bob spoke, he spoke for the firm. It’s hard to replace the credibility he brings to the table,” says Mark Jones, a partner with River Associates, who is in charge of finding deal opportunities at his firm. Jones was one of the few business development professionals in the industry with Landis 20 years ago.
Landis joined Riverside in 2002 as a one-man department. Over the years, he has originated more than 5,600 deal opportunities for the firm, and the Riverside origination team has grown to 18 full-time deal originators.
This isn’t what Landis expected for his life. He grew up in the Midwest with a modest background. Hoping to keep him out of trouble in his teen years, his parents sent him to a camp in Colorado. That’s when Landis’ spark for adventure and his love of the mountains came to life. “It was transformative,” he recalls. “That’s where I wanted to be. I didn’t know about elite schools or much about college at all, but I knew I wanted to be out West.” Landis headed to the University of Colorado and joined the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) to pay the tuition. (Today, an avid skier, Landis was in Colorado during our interview and still spends a significant amount of time in the state. He even convinced Riverside to set up an office there.)
“This was during Vietnam and everyone on campus knew if you had short hair, you were ROTC. When I graduated, they sent me to Germany. I was there for six years of active duty. Vietnam was ending, it was a rough time for soldiers coming back to the U.S., and I didn’t know what I was going to do,” says Landis.
Landis thought about staying in the military but didn’t ultimately like the idea of everything being planned out for him as it would be with a government job. Instead, Landis applied and was accepted to grad school with the loose idea that he felt he was good at marketing and finance, and there may be a way to connect those two disciplines. Landis headed to the American Graduate School of International Management in Phoenix, Arizona, and was recruited to Chemical Bank in New York upon graduation. “I never thought I would wind up in New York, but there I was on the 80th floor of the World Trade Center,” he says.
Bob was a pioneer as the dedicated BD person. He was always great at building relationships and telling companies honestly what the story was.
MARK JONES Partner, River Associates
Top left: Newly hired Robert Landis at The Riverside Company’s first office in Rockefeller Center. Landis was Riverside’s 23rd employee. Top right: Landis, 52, joined a team of Riversiders in JPMorgan’s New York Corporate Challenge.
Bottom left: Landis received the Award for Excellence from ACG New York and The M&A Advisor. Bottom right: Landis and Roger Aguinaldo, founder of The M&A Advisor and managing partner of Forest Hills Capital Management.
After a series of M&A deals, promotions and job changes, Landis landed at Deutsche Bank, where he saw an opportunity for the bank to establish a successful aerospace and defense business. “In the 1990s, there were a lot of companies in aerospace, and it was a great business with steady government contracts,” he remembers. “That said, Deutsche didn’t have interest in focusing on this sector. I had to convince the board in Germany running the business how important aerospace and defense was in America and that it was a growing industry globally.”
Ultimately, Landis was successful in making his case. “Once I finally got them on board, it was off to the races, and we built an empire. All the big names were merging—like Lockheed and Martin Marietta, Northrop Aircraft and Grumman Aerospace, Boeing and McDonnell Douglas—and all were interested in having a foreign bank finance them in Europe. I created a group and we became a huge profit center across capital markets services,” says Landis. “I
created a lot of contacts throughout my time in banking.”
After the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Deutsche Bank was stressed and its global aerospace group was eliminated. “It was a real eye-opener,” Landis says. “We had generated over $20 million in fees, but just being good doesn’t mean you’re great.”
With the group he built now dismantled, Landis found himself in search of a new opportunity. “I started calling everyone I knew from all my years of work. I had known Béla [Szigethy] and Stewart [Kohl] from our days at Citibank together. We had kept in touch,” says Landis. “They had started Riverside as a fundless sponsor and I would talk with them about aerospace deals. When I called Béla, he said, ‘We need to think more about deal origination. This could be a good fit for you.’”
Also trailblazers, Riverside’s founders and co- CEOs, Szigethy and Kohl, realized early on that when you are always chasing deals, it leaves little time to make improvements at previously purchased companies. Riverside wanted someone full-time who could analyze deal opportunities and keep the deal pipeline flowing while they spent time nurturing their investments. “I didn’t know a thing about private equity, but I knew about marketing,” says Landis.
Three weeks later, Landis was on board at Riverside with a database of 4,000 companies to call on and four email addresses. “I didn’t know what I didn’t know, so I just went in there and started to create connections between groups I had met over the years and people at the firm. I had connections at UPS, FedEx and all the big aerospace companies and beyond. My new job was to be the connector
Image by Randall Photographyat the lower end of the middle market, and I became good at that,” he says.
Landis made an art out of connecting people. He brought together not only people who could create business opportunities for Riverside but also all the new originators who were popping up in the industry as the role was growing. “There weren’t that many people to talk to. We were already becoming a big firm. I would talk with the others in the same role and share best practices,” Landis recalls. “We were sort of competitors, but I didn’t look at it like that. I would say, ‘Don’t reinvent the wheel, do what we did.’ For me, it is all about paying it forward.”
Gretchen Perkins, a partner with Avance Investment Management, remembers her early days as a BD professional with Landis. “He’s the godfather of our role,” says Perkins, who selected Landis as her mentor many years ago. Perkins was at Long Point Capital, tasked with trying to get private equity firms to use her firm’s debt in 2002. Long Point sent her to a conference with the advice, “Find the best people who do this kind of thing and copy them.”
“Detroit firms are practical. They said, ‘Find someone to emulate.’ Well, Bob was at every event I attended and everyone appeared to know him. It was from him that I learned boots-on-the-ground tactics and the importance of genuine and intentional relationship building,” says Perkins. “He set the standard for all of us in the BD position. He is always so gracious and generous with his time, contacts and best practices. He has repeatedly sent email intros for me and connected me with people
even though we are considered competitors. He has always asked, ‘How can I help you? Who can I put you in touch with?’”
In addition to his work at Riverside, Landis is also widely credited with growing the ACG New York chapter to what it is today. “When I joined ACG, we didn’t even have a board. We were just a few volunteers with $20,000 in the bank. We just had one part-time woman who would travel in from the Bronx and help set up small meetings at the Union Club,” says Landis.
This was until Mark Opel, who was with American Capital at the time, suggested hosting a wine event and inviting more people. Without hesitation, Landis was on board. Eight years later, Bobby Blumenfeld came on as president and executive director of ACG New York, and the event grew even larger. The annual wine tasting is now the chapter’s largest and most successful event and is held at Tavern on the Green. Landis spent countless volunteer hours as a board member of ACG New York and remains active today.
In addition to contributing his time to ACG, Landis also raises money for research into glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, by organizing an annual ice hockey game at Madison Square Garden between private equity professionals and bankers.
“Bob is just a wonderful human and someone you want to be around,” says Perkins. “Over the years, he’s become a friend to many in the industry. We’ve been lucky to have him and learn from him.” //
We recently committed $100
in
decarbonization goals of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by mitigating the financial hurdles associated with the transition to greener operations. But why would we focus on SMEs rather than large corporations?
While large corporations hold great influence in the market, SMEs make up more than 99% of businesses in the United States and 90% globally. “Small and medium” is an understatement in the context of their collective impact and contribution to the global economy and supply chain.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our economy revealed profound weaknesses across the entire global supply chain. As we continuously work through the consequences of those weaknesses, our new perception enables us to better prepare for other disruptors, like climate change. The world’s largest corporations are laserfocused on restructuring their supply chain strategies with sustainability and resiliency at top of mind.
Many large companies are cascading climate action down the supply chain to their suppliers, which are often SMEs. Contributing 60-70% of total industrial pollution, the impact of SMEs demonstrates why decarbonization is impossible without their efforts.
At Siemens Financial Services (SFS), a recent survey of our clients found that 75% of our large, public portfolio companies have a decarbonization strategy. Yet, the inverse was true for our SME clients; 75% of them do NOT have a decarbonization strategy.
Supply chain emissions – from manufacturers of products to transporters of goods – are roughly
11.4 times higher than operational emissions. We now require a carbon web assessment from all suppliers as part of our vendor-selection process –and we’re not alone.
The SMEs that make up our world’s supply chains must implement decarbonization strategies in order to remain competitive in the market. There needs to be an alignment of decarbonization expectations between suppliers and customers, or suppliers risk losing significant business.
The major obstacle to sustainability initiatives is complexity. SMEs must baseline current emissions, identify areas for improvement, implement change with products and technology, and allocate capital to the project. The goal of the Siemens Kickstarter Capital program is to eliminate the complexity, add speed, and simplify the entire process.
Participants can consult with a team of Siemens finance and technology experts to create a custom, end-to-end decarbonization roadmap. Along with financing, the scalable roadmap will integrate Siemens Smart Infrastructure products, solutions, and services such as energy efficiency technologies, alternative renewable energy sources and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.
SMEs collectively hold the power to solve the global climate crisis and can protect their right to compete in the market by leveraging that power. Siemens can work with them to help them realize their emissions output and eliminate the supply chain’s carbon footprint with benchmarking tools and end-to-end, practical solutions.
Everything that SMEs need to help save the planet is available; now we must work together to harness the potential. Visit www.usa.siemens.com/kickstarter to learn more about our Kickstarter Capital program.
Empowering SMEs to stay competitive while saving the planetPresident and CEO, Siemens Financial Services, Inc. Anthony Casciano Anthony Casciano is president and CEO of Siemens Financial Services, Inc. million ‘Kickstarter Capital’ to advance the
ACG is only as strong as its members and volunteers. We asked 14 of them from across North America about how they’ve contributed to the association and the role ACG has played in their careers.
The more time I give to ACG, the more I’ve gotten out of the organization.
CHRISTIAN REMMEL Director, Aterian Investment Partners
This year’s MAX Award recipients represent private equity, investment banking and lending institutions. These are important constituencies within the Association for Corporate Growth and the broader middle-market dealmaking community, but they’re by no means the only ones.
To offer a broader snapshot of ACG’s membership and the contributions of its volunteers, we’ve selected 14 individuals to spotlight. These members from across North America represent key membership categories, including law and accounting firms, capital providers, intermediaries, consultants and others. They all share a commitment to ACG, having volunteered their time to plan events, grow membership, build new programs and foster connections.
Having recognized three firms of the year and the ACG Legend Award winner, we also want to give it up for the members who make ACG the place to do business in the middle market. Here’s a look at 14 of them.
TRICIA BALSER
SUZIE DORAN
BRAD ELLIOTT
BEN GIBBONS
STEVE HIGGINS
HEATHER LEWIS
POLLY MACK
JAY MCCABE
CASSANDRA MOTT
CHRIS NICHOLAS
CHRISTIAN REMMEL
MARGARET SHANLEY
JUSTIN SPEARS
STEVE TYE
DOUGLAS J. GUTH is a Cleveland-based freelance writer covering the middle market and small business. ANNEMARIE MANNION is a Chicago-based freelance writer covering business. SUE TER MAAT is ACG’s communications manager, based in suburban Chicago.A sense of community fostered by the Association of Corporate Growth is what Suzie Doran, a partner with accounting and consulting firm SingerLewak in Los Angeles, most appreciates about being a member of the organization, which she joined in 2004.
Doran has been involved in many aspects of the Los Angeles chapter. She has served on the ACG Los Angeles Conference Committee, the Award Committee, Women’s Committee, Executive Committee, Programs Committee, and as treasurer and president of the chapter.
Doran has made both personal and professional contacts through ACG.
“ACG has positively impacted me professionally by providing me with my first client that I brought into the firm,” she says. “ACG has been a great community that has fostered some wonderful relationships over the years.”
Cornelia Cheng, managing director of MGG Investment Group in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, met Doran through ACG Los Angeles, and they serve together on the chapter’s board. Cheng says Doran makes a point to spread the word about ACG’s many benefits.
“She brings incredible energy and commitment in leading and promoting ACG across the dealmaking community,” Cheng says of Doran. “Most recently, and with short notice, she stepped up as interim ACG LA Advisory board chair to fill an unexpected vacancy.”
Doran also builds connections among chapter members and other stakeholders, according to Cheng, who says Doran is always active in welcoming those who are new to the local dealmaking community.
“She is also a prolific connector who actively finds opportunities to connect with those in her network to facilitate partnership opportunities,” Cheng says.
—ANNEMARIE MANNION
Suzie is a seasoned audit and transactional account expert and is always active in welcoming those who are new to the local dealmaking community.
CORNELIA CHENG Managing Director, MGG Investment Group
In describing his lasting impact on ACG New York, Christian Remmel points to the importance of taking the initiative.
When the chapter transitioned to a virtual environment, Remmel and a colleague drove event attendance by creating a quarterly investment roundtable. Led by an expert speaker or panel, each session brought together members of the ACG dealmaking community to discuss a relevant industry topic.
“We recognized the need to adapt,” says Remmel, who joined ACG in 2016. “While there is no substitute for meeting in person, we could create an event series focused on relevant content.”
Vik Magdani, executive director of ACG New York and CEO of ACG Northeast, calls Remmel “a serial consumer of ACG” committed to his work.
“Christian is a senior private equity originator who is a consummate professional,” Magdani says. “He not only uses ACG as a conduit to enhance his own business development but also enables other members and dealmakers to do so. Christian’s contributions to ACG and dealmaking are invaluable.”
Remmel’s work with ACG has also provided vital connections to industry peers.
“The more time I give to ACG, the more I’ve gotten out of the organization,” Remmel says. “I have met highly talented individuals who are relevant to what I do and, more importantly, are good people. At its core, private equity is a relationship business. In that regard, ACG has certainly helped me grow professionally.”—DOUGLAS
About 15 years ago, Steve Higgins, managing director at Delancey Street Partners, joined ACG Philadelphia as a mid-level banker to build his network.
Since then, he’s helped spearhead one of ACG Philadelphia’s most ambitious programs, ACG University. It’s a networking and educational initiative for deal professionals who have fewer than seven years of deal experience.
Besides serving as co-chair of the inaugural rollout of ACG University, Higgins has been active on ACG Philadelphia’s Programming Committee and has served as both the co-chair of the DEI Committee and as a member of the ACG Philadelphia board. He’s currently co-chair of the chapter’s signature M&A East Conference.
Higgins says ACG helped refine his leadership skills and allowed him to make critical connections throughout his career.
“ACG presents a fantastic way to get ingrained into the Philadelphia M&A ecosystem,” he says. “Through active participation on various committees, I’ve developed strong relationships with a variety of deal professionals and developed a lot of great friendships as well. It has directly led to business organically. Obviously, I’ve found it beneficial because I’ve continued to be engaged with ACG over the years.”
Through his volunteering with ACG Philadelphia, Higgins has been a major asset to the chapter, says Leo Helmers, cofounder of Mereo Capital Partners and ACG Philadelphia’s incoming board president.
“In addition to being a great banker, he has served in various leadership capacities on ACG Philadelphia’s board or committees,” Helmers says. “He is well connected, is a good listener, displays an evenkeeled temperament, and always provides insightful perspectives and commentary.”
—SUE TER MAATJ. GUTH
Heather Lewis had three months of normalcy after joining WILsquare in late 2019. A former accounting firm executive and member of ACG St. Louis since December 2019, Lewis and her colleagues acted quickly when the coronavirus pandemic threw the business world into chaos.
Under the leadership of executive director Amy Ruebsam, ACG St. Louis pivoted to virtual happy hours and other online events that kept members connected. To expand her own network, Lewis attended virtual activities hosted by numerous ACG chapters outside of St. Louis as well.
“ACG helped me continue to make connections during a pandemic,” says Lewis. “Building relationships and learning more about people is a large part of my job, and ACG gives its members the ability to make connections no matter what is going on in the world.”
Lewis is currently focused on her work with ACG’s Emerging 20, a leadership development program for rising young leaders in the M&A space.
“ACG is not only a place to build relationships; it’s a place to gain knowledge through various programs,” Lewis says. “Getting younger folks involved with ACG is our driving force.”
Michael Norton, a board member of ACG Chicago and director of business development for boutique investment bank Houlihan Capital, knows Lewis through their mutual attendance at dozens of industry and ACG events. Norton calls Lewis a “master connector” who has made her chapter stronger and more relevant.
“Heather brings the right people to the ecosystem, which is the best way to strengthen the ACG community,” says Norton.—DJG
Heather brings the right people to the ecosystem, which is the best way to strengthen the ACG community.
MICHAEL NORTON Director of Business Development, Houlihan Capital
Like most young professionals starting out, Bostonbased Shields & Co. Managing Partner Chris Nicholas joined ACG to build his network and meet other professionals.
Since joining more than a decade ago, Nicholas has served as a board director and chair of ACG Boston’s Accelerator program, a leadership development program for emerging leaders. He’s currently a co-chair of the chapter’s Private Equity/Investment Banker Committee.
“Over the years, I’ve continued to network and develop those networking skills,” Nicholas says. “Now I get the joy of giving back to the organization that has helped me develop in my career. I’ve felt an obligation to make it better and stronger for the next wave of M&A professionals coming up through the industry.”
Nicholas has been integral in helping the chapter better engage the small, regional boutique investment banks, says Christy Dancause, CEO, New England/Eastern Great Lakes Region at ACG and executive director for ACG Boston.
Nicholas has been integral in helping the chapter better engage small, regional boutique investment banks, according to Dancause. He has also helped the chapter create specific events and programs that are valuable to them.
“Chris has engaged with ACG at every level of his career and fully embraced his membership opportunities,” Dancause says. “He got involved as a young professional, joined several committees over his membership tenure, rose through the ranks to become a board member, and remains involved today after a six-year term on the board.”—ST
Cassandra Mott has been a member of ACG’s Houston chapter since 2009, serving as president, vice president and in other key roles over the course of her tenure.
As chapter president in 2014, Mott launched a pair of committees focused on the betterment of women and young professionals. In unifying three Texas ACG chapters—Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth and Austin/ San Antonio—she empowered improved communication between chapters.
“Cassandra is a visionary bridge builder, and a strong advocate for women,” says Paul Gautier, managing director at Cary Street Partners and a board member for ACG Austin/San Antonio. “She is a true leader and knows how to bring together the right people to get things done. She’s incredibly wellconnected and efficient, not to mention a delight to work alongside.”
Upon moving from Cleveland to Houston in 2009, Mott quickly cultivated business development opportunities and even long-term friendships with fellow middle-market ACG members. Along with her work as president, she engaged in a strategic planning process that resulted in the hire of Executive Director Morgan Stone.
“Morgan has been a game-changer for our chapter over the last eight years, elevating us to next-level professionalism, marketing, sponsorship, programming and membership services,” says Mott. “I’m also grateful to Blank Rome for supporting ACG Houston as we continue to grow the firm’s transactional presence in Texas.”—DJG
As a member of the Association for Corporate Growth, Jay McCabe, vice president and relationship manager for Comerica Bank in San Diego, spearheaded an annual conference that has become a premier event for the middlemarket community.
McCabe joined ACG San Diego in 2004 and has been a board member since 2018. Right before the start of the pandemic, he initiated a new event for the chapter with the goal of building relationships with private equity investors.
“With the help of the most effective volunteer committee I’ve ever had the opportunity to serve with, in February 2020, only one month before the COVID shutdown, we hosted our first annual ACG Capital Connection,” he says.
The conference took a two-year break during the pandemic but was back in February 2023.
“Both ACG and San Diego have a lot to offer, and our conference strives to showcase this, both to the ACG and broader business communities,” McCabe says. “With a differentiated focus on serving business owners and their management teams, investors and advisors, we can attract capital, educate and ultimately strengthen our economy.”
“Despite the challenges of putting together such a significant event, Jay always has an upbeat attitude and has assembled a tremendous team to support his efforts,” says Steve Root, audit shareholder for LevitZacks in San Diego. Root is the treasurer of the San Diego chapter and serves with McCabe on the board.
The efforts of McCabe and his committee yielded an event that ultimately reflects the core purpose of ACG, Root notes: “One of the features at the CapCon Conference is DealSource, which arranges one-on-one meetings with investment banks and private equity firms, which is really the foundation of what ACG is about.”—AM
Jay always has an upbeat attitude and has assembled a tremendous team to support his efforts.
STEVE ROOT Audit Shareholder, LevitZacks
Tricia Balser is passionate about increasing inclusivity and supporting women in the M&A industry, and being part of ACG has helped her achieve those goals.
Balser has been a member of ACG’s Cleveland chapter for 16 years. She is currently president of the chapter, which recently celebrated its 40th anniversary.
“I participated in the 40th Anniversary Committee that ensured an unforgettable event that acknowledged the chapter’s rich history and celebrated the possibilities of the next 40 years,” she says.
Previously, Balser served on the Executive Committee under the role of Innovation Pillar, which includes subnetworks of Women in Transactions, Young ACG (YACG), Akron and Corporate Development. She also was chair of Women in Transactions.
“I have always celebrated the role of women in the M&A industry,” she says. “I hope that I have inspired other young women who aspire to prominence in their field.”
It seems her passion is shared with other chapter members, since its last two presidents have been women.
“Tricia is a wonderful person and effective leader,” says Margaret Jordan, director of business development at KIKO Realtors, Auctioneers and Advisors, who served on the Women in Transactions Committee while Balser was chair. “She is well liked and is known for being dependable, smart and strategic.”—AM
Justin Spears, Trivest Partners’ director of business development, Southeast, says joining his local chapter, ACG Charlotte, has helped propel his career.
Spears’ ACG membership has led to strong relationships with the intermediaries from which Trivest sources deals, and it has assisted in closing deals through heightened visibility for his role and firm. He added that membership has provided him with opportunities to collaborate and glean perspectives from a diverse group of M&A professionals.
Spears’ association with ACG began a few years ago, when he joined the Florida chapter after a colleague invited him to attend the 2019 ACG Florida Capital Connection. He has since moved to Charlotte and is now based there, allowing him to be active in the ACG Charlotte chapter.
“The (ACG Florida Capital Connection) event was an incredible introduction to the dealmaking universe and knowledge-share that is ACG,” Spears says. “It is absolute table stakes to be an ACG member if you spend time in the world of M&A.”
After joining Trivest’s Charlotte office, Spears became heavily involved in the chapter, joining the ACG Charlotte board in 2021. He also serves as vice president of programming and is a member of the subcommittee for ACG Charlotte’s Deal Crawl conference.
“Justin is an active ACG member, attending events around the country,” says ACG Charlotte Executive Director Betsy Bryan Mandl. “He also goes above and beyond to strengthen our chapter with great ideas and often brings prospective new members.”—ST
After serving ACG for nearly two decades, CAC Specialty Senior Vice President Brad Elliott is poised to become ACG Denver’s next board president later this year.
As a newly minted MBA in 2004, Elliott joined ACG because he believed it was the best way to engage in Denver’s finance and deal community.
He’s served on the M&A/PE/IB Committee and Corporate Outreach Committee.
Currently, Elliott serves as program chair where he helps develop programming that features major Denver business leaders.
He says he has focused much of his time and efforts at ACG Denver on planning, preparing and delivering high-quality programs for the betterment of the ACG Denver community, which has raised the tide for all involved.
Elliott credits ACG Denver with helping him build long-term relationships and friendships with others in the middlemarket space.
“I highly recommend ACG to colleagues as deal communities can be a tight-knit group, and ACG provides the premier environment for building lifelong relationships,” Elliott says.
Over the years, Elliott’s volunteer involvement in the chapter has been invaluable to the deal community, says Veronica Muñoz, ACG Denver’s executive director. “Brad’s impact on ACG has been tremendous,” she adds. “He is a rare blend of a visionary who tirelessly executes.”—ST
Brad’s impact on ACG has been tremendous. He is a rare blend of a visionary who tirelessly executes.
VERONICA MUÑOZ Executive Director, ACG Denver
The opportunity to build relationships with a diverse range of contacts in the M&A community, and to reconnect with many who have become friends, makes GLCC a valuable highlight on my calendar every year.
September
A dynamic networking, deal-sourcing and educational event that attracts a virtual who’s who of middle market M&A professionals from across the country. It is a collaborative effort of seven ACG Chapters from the Midwest & Mid-Atlantic regions.
This conference connects you with more than 1,000 influential M&A professionals and ACG members, gain new insights into growth, acquisitions, finance partnership, and exit strategies, and learn from renowned speakers and panelists.
We want to introduce your organization to over 1,000 M&A professionals. The GLCC will be a catalyst for new deals and business development opportunities. Contact Kelly Szejko at kelly@acg.org or
412-228-5885 for more information.
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(through July 8, 2023)
Former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Partner & Chair of the Executive Partner Group at
Solamere Capital
Nearly a decade ago, Ben Gibbons, founder and managing partner at growth-stage investment firm Waterpoint Lane, joined ACG Toronto. He was introduced to the association through a past ACG Toronto chapter president, Dan Amadori. At the time, Gibbons had recently moved from Australia to Canada and was looking to establish his network in the deal ecosystem.
Gibbons went on to join ACG Toronto’s Young Professionals Committee in 2016 and was appointed to the ACG Toronto board in 2018. In 2019, he took on the role of vice chair and became ACG Toronto board chair in 2021.
Gibbons also launched the chapter’s 50th anniversary gala dinner and Recognition Awards at the 2022 Capital Connection Conference and is currently leading the development of an ACG Canada network model with all five Canadian chapters.
He credits ACG with helping him build critical skills.
“Volunteering on the board has certainly helped me with governance principles and attaining and improving my skills with risk oversight,” Gibbons says. “As I’ve advanced to the board chair role, that has also enhanced my ability to be market present and grow the brand of Waterpoint Lane.”
Gibbons has excelled in his role at ACG, according to Mike Fenton, president and CEO of ACG Toronto.
“Ben is a strong facilitator and engages everyone as an equal,” Fenton says. “He’s always been open to new ideas and willing to assist members and colleagues to network with our chapter network. He’s a natural leader—he works well with both our younger members and with industry leaders.”—ST
Ben is a strong facilitator and engages everyone as an equal.
MIKE FENTON President and CEO, ACG Toronto
As a member of ACG’s Los Angeles chapter since 2000, Margaret Shanley enjoys creating compelling events for the middle-market community.
“My involvement with the annual business conference has been wonderful,” she says. “I have been able to help secure marquee sponsors and speakers, and moderate panels.”
One highlight was hosting a fireside chat with author Suzy Welch during a women’s lunch in 2022. Shanley also recently moderated a sold-out panel of investment bankers at a chapter event.
Starting as a member of the Programs Committee, Shanley rose to become vice president. From there, she became a co-chair of the ACG Los Angeles Annual Business Conference and has served in that role for 15-plus years.
Shanley says being part of ACG has enhanced her career and helped her make connections, especially since she moved to the U.S. as a young professional from Ireland.
Michael Rivera, chief strategy officer for ACG, has high praise for Shanley.
“Margaret Shanley has distinguished herself within the ACG Los Angeles community through both the quality and longevity of her involvement,” says Rivera, who served as the Los Angeles chapter’s CEO before joining ACG headquarters last fall.
He notes that the ACG Los Angeles Business Conference is an important event.
“Much of the credit for the conference’s informative nature and high-value networking can be attributed to Margaret’s participation,” he says.
“Margaret is smart, accomplished and direct,” Rivera adds. “She has always been willing to leverage her professional network for the betterment of the association.”—AM
Margaret Shanley has distinguished herself within the ACG Los Angeles community through both the quality and longevity of her involvement.
MICHAEL RIVERA Chief Strategy Officer, ACG
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As a member of ACG Atlanta since 2005, Steve Tye has worked to extend the chapter’s reach and bring in new members with a diverse range of experiences and perspectives to the board.
That commitment to outreach is evident in some of the roles he’s taken on, including serving as current board chair for ACG Atlanta and as chair of M&A South, the largest networking event for middle-market dealmakers in the region.
“Steve has embraced ACG and showed the value that ACG brings to all stakeholders— middle-market companies, private equity, venture capital, investment bankers, service providers and others,” says Bill Wade, CEO of Company.com in Austin, Texas. Wade and Tye served together on the ACG Atlanta board of directors and on the M&A South committee.
M&A South’s appeal is supported by the numbers: 55% of the 1,150 attendees at the most recent event came from outside of the state. There were 5,500 one-on-one meetings and 18,000 meeting requests.
Tye’s lasting impact has been in seeking to recruit board members with different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences. The board recently adopted a diversity, equity and inclusion pledge.
“We intend to be intentional and consistent with our commitment through regular events and to hold ourselves accountable to the pledge,” Tye says.
The chapter is also recruiting more corporate dealmakers to broaden ACG’s reach beyond private equity and middle-market advisors.
Tye credits ACG with helping him make personal and professional connections.
“There really is no other place to bring together professionals, all with the common goal of supporting middle-market dealmaking,” he says.—AM
Steve has embraced ACG and showed the value that ACG brings to all stakeholders.
BILL WADE CEO, Company.com
As director of business development at Gryphon Investors, Polly Mack is helping her firm invest in industry-leading middlemarket businesses across numerous growth sectors. Making deals with investors requires staying top-of-mind, which is where Mack’s ACG New York board membership and attendance at ACG events nationwide lend a crucial hand.
“I attend various ACG events across the country throughout the year,” says Mack. “These events allow my colleagues and me to connect with banks and sponsors investing across our sectors of focus for both platforms and add-on investments.”
Mack joined Gryphon in 2020, right after the company announced its small-cap fund strategy. Attending ACG events linked her to vital contacts who facilitated deals for the new fund. Professional connections have been instrumental in acclimating the Philadelphia resident to her role as well.
“In fact, some of the more welcoming relationships when I was new to Philly were connections I’d made through ACG events,” Mack says.
David Acharya, an ACG Global board member and former ACG New York president, calls Mack “a serial consumer of ACG events.” She is a member of ACG New York’s advisory board, and among her contributions to the chapter is organizing middle market-focused programming for its Women of Leadership Committee.
“It was a logical decision from the ACG New York advisory board to invite her to join,” says Acharya, also managing partner of Acharya Capital Partners.—DJG
It was a logical decision from the ACG New York advisory board to invite her to join.
DAVID ACHARYA Managing Partner, Acharya Capital Partners
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