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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Getting a company off the ground is never easy. It often starts with a founder putting some money in, tapping friends and family, and then attracting outside investors. But ensuring your company is prepared for growth — round by round — is more art than science. BDO's Robert Berdanier and Deron Curliss share their thoughts on analyzing management teams, operations, and the keys to professionalizing a business to prepare it for going to market and securing early stage and mid-stage rounds of growth capital.

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

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

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