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Thursday, March 28, 2013 - 2 p.m. EST
Middle-market deal activity was deal making's engine in 2012. While the overall pace of M&A transactions slowed in the second-half, in the face of economic,
political and legislative uncertainty, deal volume in the middle-market proved to be more resilient, helped by steady private equity activity. Now with the U.S. election decided,
the worries over the fiscal cliff calmed and business confidence lifting, all signs point to a burst of M&A activity, especially in the middle-market.
Some believe that a unique set of factors are coalescing to form a "perfect storm" of middle-market M&A activity; a slow but improving economy, an historically low
interest rate environment and a strong appetite from many businesses for growth through acquisition. With
these factors we'll see competition for quality deals growing, the pressure to cut corners and quickly close transactions increasing and the need for sound
strategic M&A decisions intensifying.
On March 28th, with the help of leading middle-market private equity investors, strategic acquirers and M&A advisers, we'll aim to answer these and other
critical questions facing middle-market dealmakers as they fine-tune their strategies for 2013. After just 60 minutes, listeners will have a refreshed perspective on
the direction in which the market is heading, the strategic imperatives that need to be addressed, a better understanding of private equity's deal appetite, the availability
of debt financing availability and the needs of strategic acquirers.
Moderator:
Matt Miller
Editor-at-Large
The Deal
As editor-at-large at The Deal, Matt Miller has written feature
stories investigating the successes and struggles of major metropolitan
areas like Cleveland, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, San Diego and Boston, and
covered the bankruptcies of Catholic dioceses around the country
resulting from incidents of sexual abuse by priests.
Miller has
spent more than 25 years in business journalism, with much of that time
based in Asia for The Wall Street Journal Asia. He opened The Wall
Street Journal Asia's New Delhi bureau, was bureau chief in Manila and
an investigative reporter based in Hong Kong, where he broke stories on a
number of major financial scandals. He also was the Pacific Rim
correspondent for The San Diego Union-Tribune and has contributed to the
BBC, NPR, Institutional Investor, the Far Eastern Economic Review and
the Los Angeles Times.
Expert Panel:
Tim Hartnett
Partner
PwC
Tim Hartnett is a partner with PwC's Deals practice and serves as the firm's U.S. Private Equity sector leader. In this role, Tim is responsible for overseeing the firm's work with its private equity clients, and provides a broad range of acquisition services to financial buyers, including due diligence, valuation, structuring, taxation and specialist consulting. From 2004-2006, he helped establish and lead PwC's Deals practice in Miami, where he focused on M&A and private equity activity in Florida, the Caribbean and Latin America. Today, Tim is based in New York and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and a BS from Boston College. He is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, The New York Society of Certified Public Accountants and The Florida Society of Certified Public Accountants. He also serves on the Board of Directors of The Valerie Fund, an organization that provides treatment and counseling to children with cancer and blood disorders.
Richard Lawson
Managing Partner and Co-Founder
Huntsman Gay Global Capital
Mr. Lawson is a Managing Partner and Co-Founder of HGGC. He is also a member
of HGGC's Policy and Investment Committee and Executive Committees.
Mr. Lawson currently serves as Chairman/Vice-Chairman of the Boards of Hybris
Software AG, Innovative Interfaces and SkyRiver Technology Solutions as well as a director on the boards of Sunquest Information Systems, iCongo, Wasatch Adaptive
Sports and Forever Young Foundation, an organization that is a primary benefactor of a portion of HGGC's carried interest proceeds used to support extensive philanthropic work in children's causes around the world. He has extensive private equity investment and operational experience primarily in a broad range of technology-related industries.
Prior to the inception of HGGC, Mr. Lawson was a co-founder, Managing Director and member of the original four-person board of directors of the general partner of Sorenson Capital Partners, L.P. While at Sorenson Capital, Mr. Lawson was involved in all phases of the firm's development since its founding and had responsibility for originating, structuring and managing investments across a number of industries in middle market companies.
Prior to co-founding Sorenson Capital, Mr. Lawson served as President and Chief
Executive Officer of Found, Inc., a Bain Capital portfolio company that provided ecommerce software and inventory management solutions to major retailers and manufacturers. Mr. Lawson began his investment career in the Investment Banking
Division of Morgan Stanley and worked in the New York and Tokyo, Japan, offices as a member of the Corporate Finance and Mergers, Acquisitions & Restructuring Departments.
Mr. Lawson is regularly quoted in leading industry publications such as Bloomberg
BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Deal, Mergers & Acquisitions, LBO Wire, Buyouts Magazine and Private Equity International. In addition, he is a frequent speaker at conferences, such as Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst
Carl Thoma
Managing Partner
Thoma Bravo LLC
Carl Thoma is a managing partner of Thoma Bravo, LLC which manages private equity funds. Thoma Bravo currently is managing $2.5 billion and was one of the early partnerships in private equity launching their first fund in 1980.
Thoma began his career in private equity with the First National Bank of Chicago. In 1980, he founded a private equity firm now known as Thoma Bravo, LLC. His firm has invested more than $4 billion in growing companies over the past 35 years. Thoma has been acknowledged in Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, and Business Week for his investment leadership. He is most noted for his success in Pagenet, where his firm made over 100 times their investment and secured numerous cellular licenses that are now a critical part of AT&T cellular network. Thoma has served as chairman of the National Venture Capital Association and the Illinois Venture Capital Association, on the board of the Copia, the American Center for Wine, Food and the Arts, Northwestern Evanston Hospital Board and the Illinois Institution of Technology.
Carl Thoma earned his bachelor's degree in agricultural economics in 1970 from Oklahoma State University and completed his MBA from Stanford's Graduate School of Business in 1973. He now resides in Chicago and has two adult children. His interests include wine, investing and art.
