The Family Business Maze—M&A, Growth, and Succession Planning

Mr. Dennis has been a Principal, Managing Director, and Managing Partner of WoodRock& Co. since he founded the firm in April 1998.  He is responsible for deal origination and selection, deal and project leadership, strategy, and business management. To date, Mr. Dennis has executed over $8 billion in transactions.

Prior to WoodRock, he was a Vice President with Koch Industries, Inc. in their international and capital services groups. In these positions, he was responsible for Koch’s global merchant banking and M&A efforts. From early 1996 through June 1997, he served as Chief Financial Officer, and later as acting Chief Operating Officer, of Gas Services International, Limited (“GSI”), a contract compression and engineering services company with offices in Houston, Texas, and Singapore. Before GSI, he advised both American Breco Corporation and Aviation Sales Company (NYSE: AVS) in their merger, acquisition, divestiture, and financing activities. His prior investment banking experience includes Simmons & Company International and Goldman Sachs & Co.

Prior private equity experience includes SCF Partners, L.P. and Breco Holdings, Inc.  He holds an AB from Harvard College and an MBA from Rice University’s Jesse H. Jones Graduate School of Management. Following college, he served as an officer in the United States Navy.

Jacky Fischer grew up working in a variety of crazy family businesses, pretty sure her parents violated every child labor law out there. She gained her initial education from the school of hard knocks and later earned her MBA from Rice University. In 2003, she purchased her parents' moving business, transforming it from $3 million in annual revenue to over $40 million. Jacky recently completed her debut book, "The Growth Paradox," set to release in November. The book introduces a revolutionary management approach that not only protects small business owners from growth-related pitfalls but also offers a practical guide brimming with exercises for scaling. Currently, Jacky heads 3 Men Movers, a leading moving company known for its innovation and stellar customer service.

Robert Hilty is President of Competition Roofing, Inc. in Houston, Texas. He is working on transitioning the family business into the second generation with his father, the founder, and his two sisters. He is an engineer by education and worked in manufacturing before joining the family business. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, spending time with his family, and playing drums in his church worship band.

Janice Jucker is co-owner of Three Brothers Bakery with her husband, Robert Jucker. The bakery was founded in 1949 by Bobby’s father and two uncles after surviving the Holocaust. They like to say they are “Memory Makers Who Happen To Be Bakers®…for five generations and almost 200 years. Now there are 4 locations in Houston employing approximately 75. Their pecan pie was named “best mail order pecan pie America has to offer” by Country Living Magazine and has had many accolades along with their Pumpecapple Piecake. Prior to joining the bakery in 2005, Janice worked for Lucent Technologies and Avaya selling multi-million dollar communications systems.

As Managing Director in UHY’s Houston Office, I have more than 20 years of audit and business advisory experience serving public and privately held companies. I have led audit and advisory services across multiple industries including construction, manufacturing, distribution, engineering, oilfield service, energy (upstream and midstream), hospitality, technology, and life sciences. Other than assurance, I lead the Houston Transaction Advisory Practice and perform buy-side and sell-side diligence in the middle market space. We provide due diligence reviews in corporate transactions including review of accounting policies, quality of earnings and working capital, cash flow analysis, asset valuation, accounting systems and controls, and operational processes on clients with revenue ranging from $10 million to $1 billion.