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

In a market affected like it is by the COVID-19 pandemic, volatility is the norm for investors rather than nuance. With all the shifts and uncertainty, Equity Trust Company CEO George Sullivan says the fundamental question on investors' minds right now is when will conditions be better? For Sullivan, that's the wrong question. Instead, it should be where are the opportunities?

If you lead a family-owned business, identifying when to exit and when to transition is never easy. Carolyn Meade, an attorney with Moore & Van Allen, takes a look at some post-COVID options for family-owned businesses, and how those who ultimately decide to sell can maximize value in a deal.

Stewart Kohl has seen a lot of dealmaking — some 650 investments at The Riverside Company, the $10 billion PE firm where he is co-CEO. In this wide-ranging conversation, he offers insight into the mood at his portfolio companies, Riverside's M.O. as it navigates through the choppy M&A market, his sense of what buyers and sellers are thinking at the moment, and how the pandemic and its market fallout compare to the Great Recession.

Deals trickled in during the early days of the COVID crisis. But as dealmakers settled into the new reality, the volume increased. With it, investors sought greater risk mitigation to ensure deals got done with fewer lingering issues of uncertainty. Aon Transaction Solutions Senior Managing Director Matthew Heinz discusses the rise of reps and warranties, plus how new types of insurance solutions are giving peace of mind to buyers and sellers post-COVID.

Brock Leonti and his company Prescribe FIT went looking to land a new round of funding this year. While cash is certainly a factor, taking on investors isn't just about the money. It's also about the intellectual capital those funders are able to contribute. Operating in the health care field where physicians are skeptical of new technologies, that investor knowledge could prove to be invaluable for the fledgling company. Leonti talks about leaning on investors during a time of turbulence, and how the startup is faring amid the tumult.

Park Place Technologies President and CEO Chris Adams discusses his perspective on the market, and shares his sense of what's likely to be on the minds of dealmakers through the balance of a year plagued by uncertainty.

Pineapple Payments is trying to look beyond just the financials to find fit. That means understanding exactly who they're investing in because every acquisition is an opportunity to learn from those who have been acquired. But those learnings won't show up in a quality of earnings report. They're discovered through conversation. President Jon Halpern talks about his company's acquisition and integration process, and how learnings are being shared between acquirer and acquiree.

Bob Campana, CEO of Campana Capital, says a good deal is a good deal regardless of what else is happening in the market. But he also recognizes that both sides should look to protect themselves from the next globally disruptive event with careful deal terms that give both sides the peace of mind needed to transact. Campana offers his take on the current state of dealmaking and when he expects anything like "normal" to return to M&A.

John Rowady had readiness in mind as he built his sports marketing firm, rEvolution. But there's no readiness rule book for a global pandemic, particularly one in which sports across the globe stopped completely. In this episode Rowady talks about how he coached his team up to deal with the unprecedented disruption, and how now is the ideal time for meaningful acquisitions that could set a business up for success well into the future.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created a lot of challenges in the dealmaking space. Still, dealmakers are on the lookout for opportunities – and Kassel Equity Group Managing Partner Brett Motherwell says there are opportunities to be had. However, he says dealmaking during the pandemic is all about mitigating M&A risks through careful deal structures.