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December 13, 2024
The pivotal role played by representations and warranties insurance
By Domenick Cristino
MelCap Partners Vice President Domenick Cristino on the role Reps & Warranties insurance may have in M&A in the coming year and this month’s stand-out deal.
September 12, 2024
Cleveland Deal Activity: Upcoming Rate Cuts Could Spark Q4 M&A Activity
MelCap Partners’ Luke Hippler elaborates on potential interest rate cuts, and highlights notable recent transactions.
June 20, 2024
Driving Growth: Northeast Ohio's Destination Potential
In this roundtable discussion led by First National Bank's Boyd Pethel, David Gilbert from the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Destination Cleveland, Greg Harris from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Brian Zimmerman from the Cleveland Metroparks highlight how their collaborative efforts drive economic growth and position the region as a must-visit destination.
April 4, 2024
Cleveland Deal Activity: Resurfacing of financial sponsors as both buyers, sellers
Because of the record levels of uninvested capital from record levels of fundraising by private equity groups over the past three years, financial sponsors are expected to be more aggressive and active on the buy side in 2024.
March 7, 2024
AI Trends for the Progressive CEO: Navigating the Transformative Landscape
Chief Outsiders' Ed Valdez and Angus Robertson rank the eight most important factors in the AI scene to pay attention to right now.
December 15, 2023
Cleveland Deal Activity: Cultural Fit Matters
One of the most critical aspects of a successful transaction is cultural fit. There are several reasons it matters. Here are a few that can determine success or failure.
November 17, 2023
The Fourth Quarter Comeback
Sports enthusiasts can attest that there are few scenarios more thrilling than a fourth quarter comeback. And no NFL quarterback has led more fourth quarter comebacks than future Hall of Famer Tom
July 28, 2023
Slowed inflation to temper rising cost of capital ... hopefully
Sharply increasing inflation rates over the past two and a half years in the U.S. are a result of several contributing factors, but none more than the relationship between the prices for goods and
February 17, 2023
Positive Trends During Turbulent Times
Private equity fundraising, driven by an increase in capital from private investors, has remained near historic highs. However, private equity groups will also be tasked with balancing the challenges of securing debt capital as credit tightens.
February 3, 2023
Optimism For A Return To Normal Pervades In M&A For 2023
Dave Dunstan spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about the survey results and the expectation among buyers and sellers for the 2023 deal year.
January 20, 2023
Cleveland Deal Pulse: Earnouts Increase In Popularity
Earnouts can align buyer and seller interests, incentivizing sellers to stick around post-sale to realize an economic benefit from the continued success of the business. Increasingly, they're being used to align total deal value to the ongoing performance of the business in a period of uncertainty, says Carter Hatina, an analyst with MelCap Partners, LLC.
December 16, 2022
Cleveland Deal Pulse: M&A Key To Corporate Strategies Despite Uncertainty
Rising inflation and interest rates, as well as a looming recessionary period, continue to be top-of-mind for dealmakers. The economic uncertainty caused by these issues has led to modest M&A volatility. However, valuations for high-quality businesses remain lofty.
November 23, 2022
JumpStart's Jerry Frantz On How Uncertainty Is Affecting Early-Stage Investors
JumpStart Ventures President Jerry Frantz on how the early-stage investor mindset has been affected by market uncertainty and what it means for entrepreneurs.
November 18, 2022
Deal Pulse Cleveland: Rising Interest Rates Impact Private Equity
Interest rates have become a greater challenge, leading private equity to counter by increasing the portion of equity placed into deals to better manage the cost of debt.
October 21, 2022
Deal Pulse Northeast Ohio: M&A Outlook in a Volatile Economy
The Northeast Ohio M&A market has faced the same headwinds as the broader U.S. Deal volume for the nine months ended September 30, 2022 was 10.1 percent lower than the same time period in 2021, while September 2022 deal volume was 26.3 percent lower than September 2021. Still, Northeast Ohio saw the closing of several noteworthy transactions.
September 15, 2022
Deal Pulse: The Economic Impact of a Manufacturing Resurgence
In his latest Deal Pulse report, Mike Kostandaras of MelCap Partners assesses the current M&A market, including a discussion of recent deals, a puts a spotlight on domestic manufacturing.
August 19, 2022
Deal Pulse: M&A in a Virtual World
In July 2022, the Northeast Ohio M&A market demonstrated more resilience than the broader domestic market, as deal volume in July 2022 increased by 13.8 percent relative to July 2021. However, for the seven months ended July 2022, Northeast Ohio deal volume was 10.1 percent lower than the prior year.
August 11, 2022
Real estate investing in a dynamic market
Citymark Capital Founder and CEO Dan Walsh on the real estate investment market, what, and where, is hot, and how he sees the investment landscape playing out given the economic currents.
July 13, 2022
Deal Pulse: Volume down, value up amid mounting headwinds
Following a healthy first quarter, U.S. and local deal volume declined the second quarter ended June 30. However, total deal value on a national basis was up sharply over the same period. Acquirers are increasingly confronted with a difficult labor market.
June 2, 2022
Economic development challenges, opportunities in Greater Cleveland
Downtown Cleveland Alliance's Michael Deemer, Howard Hanna Real Estate Services' Howard W. "Hoby" Hanna, IV, First National Bank's Jeff Bechtel and K&D's Doug Price helped kickoff the recent Cleveland Smart Business Dealmakers Conference with a roundtable discussing the drivers of economic development in Northeast Ohio.
May 26, 2022
How the middle-market M&A scene might play out for 2022
Based on analyst reports and Citizens Annual Middle Market M&A Outlook, 2022 is expected to be another high-paced deal year, says David Dunstan managing director in Citizens M&A Advisory Group.
January 28, 2022
Buyers Negotiate Protections As Valuations Soar
Bellmark Partners' Andy Vollmer explores the record-level of M&A activity in 2021, the driving factors of that activity, the consequences, and what we can expect for the remainder of 2022.
June 30, 2021
The next normal
Joe Pulizzi, Stewart Kohl, Jeff Bechtel, and David Heller kick off the Cleveland Smart Business Dealmakers Conference discussing how they navigated their organizations through the pandemic, their thoughts on the current and future state of deal flow, and best practices in M&A.
May 21, 2021
Beth Haas on the factors that make 2021 a sellers’ market
Cyprium Partners Beth Haas spoke on the Smart Business Dealmakers Podcast about the state of the M&A market, highlighting what she sees as good for sellers and what factors could dampen deal strength or activity.
May 6, 2021
Greg Skoda: SPACs 101
Marcum LLC's Greg Skoda offers a lesson in SPAC fundamentals — what they are, why they’re so insanely popular right now, and what sellers and investors should know about them before getting involved.
April 23, 2021
Post-COVID capital trends to watch
As buyers and sellers look to transact, Mark Guterman, managing director of loan syndications for First National Bank, and Martin McCormick, managing director and head of FNB Mezzanine Finance for F.N.B. Corporation are seeing capital trends starting to take shape.
February 26, 2021
Serial entrepreneur Steve McHale offers insight into his investment process
Steve McHale talks about how he identifies investment targets and what trends he’s chasing with his investment dollars.
February 12, 2021
André Thornton takes lessons from the past to inform the future at ASW Global
ASW Global CEO André Thornton on how lessons from navigating past challenges have helped the company overcome challenges today.
December 3, 2020
David Woodburn sees great buyer-Seller cooperation during the disruption
David Woodburn, a shareholder at Roetzel & Andress, offers his sense of the deal market, what companies can do to prepare for crises in the future, and more.
November 20, 2020
Equity Trust Co.’s George Sullivan On Finding Opportunity In Disruption
George Sullivan, CEO of Equity Trust Company, says the fundamental question on investors’ minds right now is when will conditions be better? For Sullivan, that’s the wrong question.
