An ESOP, or employee stock ownership plan, is one of several options you may consider when selling your business. What is an ESOP, and should you consider one? In this episode of M&A Talk, we explore the ins and outs of ESOPS and help you determine whether an ESOP is the right exit path for you. You will learn how ESOPS work, whether your company is a right fit for an ESOP, how your business will be valued under an ESOP, and common multiples used to finance the transaction. View the complete sho...
Mar 16, 2023•50 min•Transcript available on Metacast Looking at M&A transactions from the sell-side, building value is the foremost goal for a business owner. Jonathan Wilson, the founder of Dubb Value Creation (Consulting Firm), returns to M&A Talk to discuss the importance of incorporating sell-side readiness into a strategic plan and outlines his eight key concepts for building value. He covers the importance of financial forecasts, reducing concentrations of risk, recurring and repeat revenue, synergies and dis-synergies, and the need to alway...
Mar 07, 2023•46 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the M&A world, the veterinary field is changing as practices become more consolidated. Eric Lewandowski, a managing director in the KPMG Strategy consulting group, shares his insights into the appeal and growth potential of veterinary platforms. He discusses how changes in the relationship between pets and their families are being reflected in the M&A industry, the influence of technology in vet practices, the differences between corporate and clinical ownership, and private equity’s role in ...
Feb 28, 2023•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast In this engaging discussion about the human side of M&A, attorney Matt Saur, co-founder and partner of Woolery & Co., discusses how the human element of M&A law affects business outcomes. Matt shares stories illustrating the importance of relationships and covers the steep learning curve and plateaus that occur when learning the basics of M&A. He discusses the importance of developing intangible skills around the deal-making process, how a good story on the front end can help get a good outcome ...
Feb 22, 2023•53 min•Transcript available on Metacast Full of complexity and challenging to implement, the corporate carve-out form of divestiture is gaining interest in the M&A world. Eric Jones is an expert in carve-out deals, and he shares insights on what hurdles to watch for and how to prepare for a carve-out transaction. Eric discusses what a carve-out is, what makes them tricky, how they unlock shareholder value, the legal and operational issues, the importance of the transaction services agreement, and the role of diligence in making this t...
Feb 15, 2023•45 min•Transcript available on Metacast Employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) offer middle-market business owners an exit option that can protect their legacy and incentivize their employees. David Blauzvern and Jordan Burg, of CSG Partners, explain the basic mechanics of ESOPs. Their easy conversation makes the complexities of this topic clear as they discuss an overview of an ESOP plan, how they are structured, how shares work, the tax benefits for owners and employees, the prerequisites needed, and why ESOPs should be considered a...
Feb 07, 2023•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast Part art and part science – the different sides of managing an M&A transaction come together in this discussion about maximizing the value of a middle market company. Kevin Moyer and Megan Sartor combine their experiences to discuss the importance of valuation adjustments and expectation setting on the sell side. They offer explanations of EBITDA, free cash flow, and working capital, along with how these areas can be utilized to maximize value and the relationship between A/R, inventory, and acc...
Jan 31, 2023•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast Learn firsthand how a business grows through acquisitions and advice for entrepreneurs considering an exit. Orrin Klopper, CEO of Netsurit, an IT and security management services firm, discusses spending over half his time on corporate development and acquisitions. He shares insights on the acquisition process as a buy-side advisor, what PE firms see in the managed service provider (MSP) space, the benefits and challenges of using acquisitions as a growth strategy, and what went into Netsurit’s ...
Jan 24, 2023•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast This episode delves into the world of IPOs and the three main ways private middle-market companies raise money. Scott Lanciloti has over 20 years of specializing in the IPO process and explains how the SPAC and IPO markets are intertwined with the M&A market. Topics include the similarities between preparing a company for sale and doing an IPO, the evolution and growth of a company, the prime time for a company to do an IPO, what happens after a SPAC makes an acquisition, and other avenues for r...
Jan 20, 2023•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast What exactly is corporate development, and what is the secret to its long-term success? Answers to these and many more questions come from corporate development expert Alessandro Cozzi of Salo, a talent and consulting firm, as he discusses the necessity of having a long-term strategy for start-ups and big companies, the differences between doing business in the U.S. and Europe, the two things that are critical to making an acquisition viable, the role of emotions and the importance of timing in ...
Jan 17, 2023•1 hr 8 min•Transcript available on Metacast Commercial real estate attorney Brett Budlong opens up about the thrills, the stakes, and the hot-button issues in the commercial real estate M&A market. Legal nuts and bolts provide the underpinnings for entire transactions. This frank discussion is full of straight talk and horror stories from across the spectrum of real estate deals. Brett discusses issues with landlords, the impact of the growth mindset, how personality plays into negotiations, and how going too fast can lead to missing prob...
Jan 14, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Transcript available on Metacast Healthcare is a top global issue that impacts personal lives and corporate deals. Michael Roub returns to M&A Talk to discuss recent changes in the healthcare M&A industry. In this wide-ranging discussion, he covers how changes in interest rates impact deals, which sectors attract the most interest from private equity groups, and the attraction of dental services. Topics also include where growth opportunities lie within the industry and the biggest challenge to doing transactions in the healthc...
Jan 11, 2023•52 min•Transcript available on Metacast M&A attorney Hans Sperling goes beyond dry legal talk discussing the impact the human element has in M&A. Focusing on more than the legal issues, Hans talks about anticipating what can go wrong and avoiding problems throughout an M&A deal rather than just solving them. He discusses risk aversion and how this impacts a deal, the biggest and most common mistakes in an LOI, how leverage shifts during a transaction, the importance of risk allocation, and what makes a business an attractive acquisiti...
Jan 09, 2023•44 min•Transcript available on Metacast The importance of a Quality of Earnings (QoE) report is often underestimated, and there is more art than just science to it. Bill Wiersema returns to M&A Talk to discuss the top seven issues today in financial due diligence. How COVID has impacted earnings, the biggest change in GAAP rules in the past 70 years, the value that can be added by having a QoE report, key issues related to diligence, new lease accounting rules, and real-life examples – all wrapped up in an engaging episode that will h...
Jan 03, 2023•1 hr 28 min•Transcript available on Metacast The world of appraisals and valuations is full of jargon and terms not often heard in the M&A world, such as strategic, investment, and fair value. Abhi Mathews, a chartered financial analyst, clarifies these terms, laying the theoretical groundwork on how appraisals work, and placing it all in the real world. He explains the different asset classes appraisals cover, how appraisals differ from business valuations, what period a valuation is based on, the role of an appraiser in an M&A transactio...
Jan 01, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast What is the effect of combining the real estate industry with M&A? Deb Smith has over 25 years of M&A experience and shares insights into the niche world of real estate M&A, explaining the industry in a nutshell. Deb discusses the returns in real estate compared to the stock market, the appeal of the US market for international real estate M&A, the importance of the exit strategy at the start of a transaction, and predicts future changes in the real estate M&A industry. This is a chat you won’t ...
Dec 23, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Jeff Hooke returns to M&A Talk to discuss the world of private equity and the truth about returns from private equity fund investments. He digs into the private equity markets, highlighting the fact that the PE industry does not beat the public market, despite what investors want you to think. Jeff discusses pension funds, private equity funds vs. the public market, the gold standard for institutional investment funds, tips, advice, and book recommendations from Wall Street history to the Old We...
Dec 21, 2022•1 hr•Transcript available on Metacast You can learn a lot about M&A from books, but the best lessons come from real-life experiences that you won’t read about in the books. Entrepreneur Jonathan Jay shares his learnings from buying 48 companies in London in just 2.5 years. From the crucial role that confidence plays in buying, running, and selling a business to how passion, talent, and profit can work together to make you more successful to tips for making strong hires for your team – this episode is full of priceless advice for any...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 6 min•Transcript available on Metacast Changing career tracks can be challenging, but it can also be exciting and lucrative. Going from economics grad to lawyer to tech entrepreneur, Nick Fogle, founder of SaaS start-up Wavve, a tool for podcasters to turn audio into video, has gotten the start-up itch and learned how to bootstrap his way through several career iterations. Nick shares the lessons he learned from teaching himself to code through the multi-million dollar acquisition of Wavve in 2021 and into his second start-up, Churnk...
Dec 20, 2022•1 hr 5 min•Transcript available on Metacast What exactly is a family office? How are they structured, and what goes into their investment decisions? Family offices are common buyers in the middle market, so it pays to understand them. This conversation with Alejandro Levy, a Senior Investment Manager with InvestX Capital, gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what sets family offices apart, the types and sizes of family offices, what role the family office plays in the M&A space, and what a family office focuses on when considering a comp...
Dec 11, 2022•39 min•Transcript available on Metacast What is the creator economy? How can creators make money from their social media platforms? This is the story of how college friends Harry Gestetner and Simon Pompan created Fanfix – a platform for creators to monetize and engage their fanbase and create a recurring revenue stream. In over 18 months, they went from concept to being bought for 8-figures by SuperOrdinary. They discuss how to monetize a fanbase, engage Gen Z consumers, the vertical markets Fanfix works in, what’s next in platforms ...
Dec 01, 2022•51 min•Transcript available on Metacast When selling your company, you can get a better price if you consider more than simply growing revenue and profits. The question is – what do you need to do? How long will it take? What’s the payoff? Channing Hamlet, an Investment Banking Visionary, shares his 25+ years of experience helping sellers prepare for a sale. He discusses what it takes to sell your company for a premium, the four most important issues to consider, and how to put a framework in place to make the sale process smooth and ...
Nov 21, 2022•1 hr 4 min•Transcript available on Metacast How does high-growth private M&A work? What are some of the industries involved, and what is the process? Will Hawthorne, Founder of Avid Capital Advisors, an investment bank, and General Partner at Sugar Capital, a venture capital firm, shares his experience in the high-growth private M&A market. He discusses the major differences in deal structure between private and public deals, recent changes in the market that impact how cash-rich companies grow, how valuation is handled in high-growth M&A...
Nov 12, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s an open secret in the M&A world – tax insurance. It lets you take risk off the table and turn it into a negotiating point. Yoav Shans and James Swan, tax experts from McGill and Partners — an insurance broker firm, lay it out clearly. What is tax insurance, how can it impact M&A decisions, who pays for it, and how can it help close your deal? Get answers to these questions, and many more, for buyers and sellers of any size transaction since, as we all know, you can’t escape taxes. View t...
Nov 08, 2022•54 min•Transcript available on Metacast Whether you want to sell your company or are looking to buy another company to help your growth, there is a lot to consider. Tips, advice, and tales of the good, the bad, and the ugly sides to this process come from Elizabeth Cholawsky and Taylor Viens. They are with HG Insights - a leading company in the gathering and application of data to make informed acquisition decisions. In this episode, they discuss the importance of paying attention to other companies, the role that data can play in an ...
Oct 30, 2022•1 hr 1 min•Transcript available on Metacast When selling a mid-market business, you may run into a family office interested in acquiring your company. But, what are family offices, how do they work, and what do they look for in a target? In this episode with James Carey, a partner at a private family office, we discuss the differences between a family office, private equity firms, and strategic acquirers, look at how family offices create value, and define growth equity. We also talk about the elements of the family office capital growth ...
Oct 20, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast When a company is sold, the relationship between the parties has a significant impact on the success of the transaction. We discuss the sale of XPS Technologies, a private shipping software company, by Descartes, a publicly traded firm with a $5.9 billion market cap, and share perspectives on the acquisition process from both sides of the table. We discuss Descartes’ acquisition strategy and how XPS fit into it, the synergies each business looked for, key lessons learned from the acquisition, an...
Oct 11, 2022•1 hr 2 min•Transcript available on Metacast Roger Royse, M&A attorney and tax specialist, discusses the sensitive issue of taxes and the implications of selling a closely held company with few shareholders. He presents a definition of a closely held company and discusses differences this sort of company presents in an M&A transaction, some issues around employees, and the “phantom plan.” He also addresses the importance of considering taxes when forming a company and looking ahead to the tax implications when it comes time to exit the com...
Oct 01, 2022•48 min•Transcript available on Metacast This is a different sort of episode on M&A Talk . This personal chat about happiness features Marco Robert, an entrepreneur, business consultant, and truly happy person. What does happiness have to do with M&A? Why is happiness a taboo topic? How does happiness relate to the business world? What is the correlation between happiness and success? How do you find balance in your own environment? Full of wisdom, personal anecdotes, book recommendations, and much more, this episode will give you much...
Sep 27, 2022•58 min•Transcript available on Metacast Due diligence is a critical step in the M&A process, but it doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. Anthony Nitsos specializes in helping companies optimize internal systems and shares his insights and tips on preparing for due diligence. He discusses what is involved, the areas covered, how to prepare, common patterns, and the buyer’s goal. He also covers the cost of due diligence versus the cost of being unprepared and the impact on the final price. Don’t shortchange yourself in this vit...
Sep 16, 2022•55 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
