M&A Masters

Our guest for this week’s episode of M&A Masters is Gina Cocking, CEO and Managing Director of Colonnade Advisors LLC. 

Colonnade Advisors is a boutique investment banking firm that specializes in merger and acquisition advisory services, providing financial advice to business owners interested in selling their companies, buying competitors, and raising capital. Gina was employee number one at Colonnade, then left to pursue other interests. She returned to Colonnade Advisors as a Managing Director in 2014.

Despite overlap between our practices, there are a lot of parallels going forward and I think you will greatly benefit from this episode. 

Listen as we talk about:

• The critical element to managing expectations
• The truth behind valuation and how to get the best price for your company
• Gina’s take on the new reps and warranties offerings and what’s coming for 2022 in the industry
• And much more

On this week’s episode of M&A Masters, we are replaying one of our most popular episodes featuring Codie Sanchez. Codie is the managing director of Entourage Effect Capital Partners and one of the most sought out speakers in the cannabis business. She also co-leads Unconventional Acquisitions, an educational resource making the buying of businesses accessible to anyone willing to put in the work.

Codie says, “If you have the mindset to be an entrepreneur and to get to go and grind and build your own thing, you have the ability to be a deal maker, and to buy businesses, period.”

We chat with Codie about the abundance of opportunities to buy small businesses right now, as well as…

• The commoditization of buying businesses
• The timeline of businesses on the market
• The Laundromat Model
• The 9 Steps to Buying a Business, including the mindset required to close the deal
• The magic of “Deal-maker glasses” and seeing opportunities everywhere
• And more

On this week’s episode of M&A Masters, we speak with Ron Edmonds founder and president of The Principium Group.

The Principium Group is one of the most recognized names in lawn and landscape mergers & acquisitions, or as I say, the Match.com of landscaping, one of those niches hiding in plain sight in M&A. 

This is an exciting area in the industry, so listen in as Ron walks us through:

• How The Principium Group joins buyers and sellers to create a more positive experience for both sides
• Where the biggest demand is in lawn and landscape M&A (and what is driving it)
• How technology is changing the industry
• What trends he sees coming for 2022 and beyond
• And much more

On this week’s episode of M&A Masters, we speak with Skip Maner.

Skip is a General Partner of NewSpring Capital and founder of the firm’s dedicated buyout strategy, NewSpring Holdings, and was recently featured in Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine.

For over 20 years, NewSpring Capital has been seizing compelling opportunities and offering a fresh approach to building businesses in the lower middle market. There’s a lot more to them than meets the eye and we have just the right person to walk us through it, so listen and discover:

• Capital solutions across five distinct strategies
• NewSprings Holdings’ ideal targets
• Upcoming trends for 2022 and beyond
• And more

Our guest for this week’s episode of M&A Masters is Gus Marshall, Head of Transaction Liability at CFC Underwriting, Ltd. CFC is a specialist insurance provider, pioneer in emerging risk, and market leader in cyber and transactional liability.

Today we are talking with Gus about CFC's exciting new product launch, Transaction Liability Private Enterprise (TLPE). 

Gus says, “Reps and warranties insurance is currently Wall Street and we want to make it Main Street with TLPE.” He’ll break this new product down for us and tell us:

• How TLPE creates groundbreaking opportunities in micro markets
• 5 Key TLPE coverage highlights
• 3 key points to making TLPE work 
• And more

On this week’s episode of M&A Masters, we speak with Jordan Tate, Managing Partner at Montage Partners. Montage Partners, based in Arizona, is a people-first private equity firm. For 17 years they have invested in established companies across North America, helping them reach transformative growth.

Jordan tells us about his path to Montage Partners, the interesting meaning behind their company name, and how it reflects both who they are and the companies they seek to invest in, as well as:

• Key strategies for selecting investments
• The biggest driver in successful partnerships
• Which questions you should ask to assure a deal is a cultural fit
• And more

Our guest for this week’s episode of M&A Masters is Scott Hendon of BDO. Scott has been with BDO for 20 years and currently serves as the National & Global Practice Leader for Private Equity. A true icon in M&A, he brings a unique perspective as he knows both the investment side and the service side. 

Today we sit down with him to talk about the recently released Spring 2021 BDO Private Capital Pulse Survey Report. The survey polled 100 private equity and 100 venture capital middle-market fund managers across the United States.

On the show, Scott talks about the key takeaways from the report and offers his insights into: 

• The current key M&A drivers
• The 3 top impacts of Covid-19 on deal making
• The biggest tax concern for fund managers
• The biggest surprise in the report
• And more

Our guest for this week’s episode of M&A Masters is Tom Wells, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of 10 Point Capital in Atlanta. 10 Point Capital partners with visionary founders and operating executives to build dominant franchise brands. A foodie who loves hospitality, Tom found a way to combine those by investing in such companies as Walk-On’s and Slim Chickens. 

We chat with Tom about the inspiration behind 10 Point Capital, and the meaning behind their brand name, as well as:

• The one key thing they look for when partnering with a brand
• 5 things that determine which brands will be successful
• How to master building rapport with potential clients
• Franchise investing post pandemic
• And more

On this week’s episode of the M&A Masters Podcast, we are joined by Brien Davis, Founder of Altacrest Capital. Altacrest is a private investment firm focused on consumer brands with enthusiast customer bases and centered mainly on e-commerce. 

Giving clients the experience of an institutional sized team at the boutique level, Altacrest Capital’s focus on e-commerce has been even more fine-tuned in the virtual world of COVID.

We chat with Brien about his journey from big companies to lower middle markets, as well as:

• Building an investment thesis around e-commerce
• Flexibility and strengths of being an independent sponsor 
• Growth in the e-commerce industry
• Risk and cost in transactions
• The e-commerce markets that will continue to grow post-COVID
• And more

On this week’s episode of the M&A Masters podcast, we sit down with Domenic Rinaldi, President and Managing Partner of Sun Acquisitions. Sun Acquisitions is an M&A advising firm specializing in both buy-side and sell-side advisory services. Domenic also hosts his own podcast, M&A Unplugged, ranked among the top M&A podcasts of 2021. 

From a young age, Domenic had an itch to own his own business. In discussing why he chose the details of Sun Acquisitions, Domenic says, “Quite frankly, I love the lower middle market. They have more sophistication, more infrastructure, but they don’t necessarily have the money for the advisory groups...so they need firms like ours.”

We chat with Domenic about his path to owning Sun Acquisitions, as well as: 

• The ideal client both on the buy-side and sell-side
• Encouraging empathy in M&A
• Experiences with rep and warranty
• The importance of preparation when it comes to transactions
• Using podcasts to help spread information
• And more