Deal by Deal: A Private Equity Podcast

The deal closes, the M&A lawyers step away, and the real work begins. That’s when recently acquired companies turn to e2E to professionalize their finance and HR functions. In this conversation with host Greg Hawver, e2E founder and CEO Nancy McCullough pulls back the curtain on the first 100 days after acquisition. From “opportunities” that e2E often finds when it walks in the door to recommended tools that drive efficiency, Nancy reflects on 13 years at the helm. With e2E itself acquired just one year ago, she also provides the perspective of an entrepreneur’s “journey to enterprise.” “It was fun going through due diligence, having done that many times for other companies,” she says.Connect and Learn More☑️ Nancy McCullough | LinkedIn☑️ e2E | LinkedIn☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

The scenario is this: an independent sponsor is acquiring a manufacturing company for $50 million. Andrew Skowronski, an executive compensation partner at McGuireWoods, outlines the lifecycle of this hypothetical transaction with host Greg Hawver. Guided by assumptions such as a meaningful rollover and a CEO that the buyer likes, Andrew covers practical negotiation strategies, structural considerations between C-corps and LLCs, and emerging trends in severance arrangements that scale with tenure. Connect and Learn More☑️ Andrew Skowronski | LinkedIn☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

Eight years after Ariez Dustoor and his partner launched the investment firm NB Group, Ariez has observed a growing sophistication among independent sponsors. With host Greg Hawver, Ariez discusses why the independent sponsor model offers superior flexibility and opportunity in the ever-changing M&A landscape, including some observations on future use cases for AI applications for market research.Connect and Learn More☑️ Ariez Dustoor | LinkedIn☑️ NB Group | LinkedIn☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

“In terms of the big three numbers – employment, inflation, and GDP growth – our baseline forecast is optimistic,” says Matt Wolf of RSM in this economic outlook discussion with host Greg Hawver. Matt points to a 4.2% unemployment rate, two-and-a-half point inflation, and 2.5% GDP growth. But he also observes that the uncertainty of tariffs is creating “paralysis” among operators and some investors. “There's just too many variables right now to try to game out any sort of meaningful investment,” he suggests.Connect and Learn More☑️ Matt Wolf | LinkedIn☑️ RSM | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X |  YouTube☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

Grant Kornman, a partner at Align Collaborate, joins hosts Jeff Brooker and Jason Griffith for a primer on tiered carry structures and catch-ups in the private equity market. Grant shares insights about negotiating economics and governance terms, emphasizing the importance of aligning incentives and being a good steward of capital. He highlights the significance of valuations in determining hurdles and sharing percentages, as well as the need for sponsors to collaborate with investors for successful partnerships.Connect and Learn More☑️ Grant Kornman | LinkedIn☑️ Align Collaborate | LinkedIn☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

Hosts Greg Hawver, Jeff Brooker, and Jason Griffith present the 2024 Independent Sponsor Deal Survey, a treasure trove of data compiled from more than 300 transactions by independent sponsors and capital partners. “One of the things that’s really changing in independent sponsor transactions is that the professionalism, the backgrounds of the folks, and the credentials just become better and better every year,” Jeff observes. “And that is resulting in more transaction volume, more sophisticated transactions, and, frankly, larger transactions as well.”Connect and Learn More☑️ Jeff Brooker | LinkedIn☑️ Greg Hawver | LinkedIn☑️ Jason Griffith | LinkedIn☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

Mike Palm of Charter Capital Partners discusses governance and seller rollover in independent sponsor deals with hosts Greg Hawver and Jason Griffith. Their conversation covers the importance of building trust and relationships with sponsors, aligning interests through rollover equity, and navigating board dynamics. Mike emphasizes the need for founder alignment, proactive communication, and trust in dealing with challenges such as performance issues and governance structures. He also suggests that early engagement with capital providers, transparency in decision-making, and fostering a collaborative approach can achieve successful outcomes in private equity transactions.Connect and Learn More☑️ Mike Palm | LinkedIn | Email☑️ Charter Capital Partners | LinkedIn☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

On this episode of Deal by Deal, co-hosts Jason Griffith and Trey Andrews welcome Jonny Miller and Mario Burstein of Platt Park Capital Partners to discuss their emergence into independent sponsorship.Tune in as Jonny and Mario discuss how Platt Park came to be, how they secured their first deal, and how they can apply what they learned in their first deal to future deals. Jonny and Mario talk about managing seller expectations, focusing on the process instead of aiming for perfection, and how to make the transition from an acquisition to running the day-to-day operations of an acquired company.Connect and Learn More☑️ Jonny Miller | LinkedIn☑️ Mario Burstein | LinkedIn☑️ Platt Park Capital Partners☑️ McGuireWoods | LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram |  Twitter/X☑️ Subscribe Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon MusicThis podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

On this episode of Deal-by-Deal, host Greg Hawver is joined by John Huhn, Managing Partner at the Compass Group. Tune in as Greg and John discuss lessons learned during the Compass Group’s successful independent sponsor investing phase.  John also provides key insights for those PE investors seeking to raise a committed fund in the current environment.Meet Your Guest Name: John HuhnCompany: Compass GroupConnect: LinkedInContactConnect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.This podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

On this episode of Deal-by-Deal, host Greg Hawver is joined by investment banker Derek Zacarias from DAK. Together, they explore what the next 12 months may hold for M&A relating to founder-owned businesses, private equity-backed transactions and the broader middle market. This engaging discussion explores the macroeconomic trends as well as more intricate strategies and emerging themes anticipated to play a pivotal role in the coming year. Greg and Derek also reflect on 2023, a year that saw relatively subdued M&A activity in the middle market. Finally, Derek offers valuable insights on approaches that can lead independent sponsors and other private equity professionals to success in navigating auctions and seizing M&A opportunities throughout 2024.

On this episode of Deal-by-Deal, host Greg Hawver and fellow McGuireWoods partner, fund formation lawyer Rick Starling, discuss considerations and alternatives to raising a committed fund, analyze what’s going on in today’s market, and share insights on the phases of raising a fund.The episode also explores fund structures such as the "proof of concept fund" for emerging managers, highlights key differences between traditional fund economics and deal-by-deal economics, and briefly discusses operational shifts such as building out the back office and investment adviser registration.Meet Your Guest Name: Rick StarlingTitle: Partner, McGuireWoodsSpeciality: Rick is a fund formation lawyer with over 20 years of experience representing investment managers in the establishment of private funds and related products and representing institutional investors with respect to alternative investments.Connect: LinkedInContactConnect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.This podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

On this episode of Deal-By-Deal, host Greg Hawver is joined by investment banker Hector Torres, Managing Director of DC Advisory’s global healthcare team, for a discussion on the new normal in the M&A market, especially involving the healthcare industry. Hector explains that, while market activity is starting to level out from the torrent of transactions in the second half of 2021, the lower middle market and middle market are still thriving. Flexibility is now the hallmark of successful deals, with parties increasingly creating bespoke processes to better meet their goals.Hector also provides guidance to independent sponsors and other private equity buyers seeking to win actionable deals in the current environment.Meet Your Guest Name:  Hector TorresTitle:  Managing Director at DC AdvisorySpeciality: Based in the Chicago office, Hector is a Managing Director in DC Advisory’s global Healthcare team. Hector has over 16 years’ investment banking experience, specializing in M&A and strategic advisory transactions. Before joining DC Advisory, Hector was the Co-Head of Healthcare Investment Banking at FocalPoint Partners, where he led a national team of M&A and Capital Markets professionals focused on hospitals and health systems, physician practice management, post-acute care and other related healthcare sectors.Connect: LinkedInAcquired KnowledgeTop takeaways from this episode State of play in the healthcare industry. After the last year-and-a-half’s “perfect storm” of low-cost capital, high demand for healthcare services and assets, and record levels of private equity fundraising, the market is starting to cool off again. Back to basics. Buyers and their underwriters tend to have great confidence in the viability of the investment, but Hector is seeing that lenders are scrutinizing everything in unprecedented ways. Therefore, having a credible base case and performance attribution for the growth case is vital. Maintaining flexibility. Recently, we’ve seen assets wanting to retain flexibility to only make the deals that meet all their goals, so they are “tiptoeing” into the market and being patient. This requires heavy preparation on the sell side, including putting together market studies, a full financing package, and the quality of earnings and revenue. ContactConnect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.This podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

A proposed FTC rule will change how companies do business — and how law firms give advice for the foreseeable future. On this episode of the Deal-by-Deal podcast, host Greg Hawver invites guest Holden Brooks, a partner at McGuirewoods, to share insights on recent developments for noncompetes and restrictive covenants based on the recently proposed rules. The current review period will invite comments; challenges in federal courts are likely. If approved, companies will need to be in compliance within 180 days. Holden says that companies need to begin preparing for a new landscape. “Getting wise about alternatives to noncompetes, being smart about using noncompetes that are narrowly tailored, and thinking about the long-term,” she says. “What's your strategy in a world where noncompetes may not exist or may be more vulnerable? What kind of opportunities does that present?” Later on in the episode, the conversation pivots to private equity investment in the energy space with McGuirewoods partners Tom DeSplinter, Eddy Daniels, and Brian Kelly. They review the opportunities for independent sponsors in the energy space and within the Inflation Reduction Act.  Meet Your HostName: Gregory HawverTitle: Partner at McGuireWoodsSpecialty: Greg represents private equity and strategic clients in a wide variety of change-of-control transactions, minority equity investments, domestic and cross-border acquisitions, recapitalizations, joint ventures, and corporate reorganizations, as well as advising clients on day-to-day corporate matters. Connect: LinkedInAcquired KnowledgeTop takeaways from this episode The rules for noncompetes are changing. The government had been signaling in the past year that it is looking to make changes to noncompetes. The proposed rule by the FTC takes the position that noncompetes are harmful and should be banned. Holden expects that, in the next 60 days, both sides will weigh in with comments, and challenges to the rule that may arise that affect the final outcome. Businesses need to review how they are using noncompetes. No matter what the FTC outcome is, there is going to be more scrutiny and focus on noncompetes going forward. Businesses need to consider how they can keep their noncompetes narrow, if they can use other protections instead of a noncompete, and weigh their long-term value before implementing them. The Inflation Reduction Act provides opportunity through tax credits. The act extends the tax credit scheme further than was initially expected and opens up opportunities in new areas for energy, like batteries that were previously excluded. It also expands on how to monetize tax credits so they don’t always have to be marketed to a tax investor. ContactConnect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.This podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.