Conversations with Thought Leaders from the M&A Community

Geoff Alexander - Where to go When the Bank Says No

Posted on April 26, 2008

 
 Geoff Alexander - Where to go When the Bank Says No: Play Now | Play in Popup

Geoff AlexanderIt’s no secret that banks have tightened their credit standards in recent months. As you can see from the chart below, we are in the midst of the third such period of tightening since 1990 and there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight. The shaded area indicates periods of recession that followed the earlier credit crunches.

Graph

This week’s interview is the first in a series covering financing alternatives for middle market businesses trapped in the credit squeeze. Our guest, Geoff Alexander, is Director - New Business Development for The Comvest Group, a private equity firm that has created a fund called Comvest Capital, to meet the financing needs of growing middle market companies with revenues from $15 million to $500 million. Comvest Capital provides a diverse range of financing alternatives, including mezzanine debt and growth equity as well as unitranche or one stop shop solutions. In recent months Comvest has been quite busy working with companies that have been pushed out by existing lenders that are tightening their credit standards.

Geoff is responsible for sourcing new deal flow and analyzing prospective investments for Comvest. Prior to joining Comvest, he worked as a Senior Associate at hedge fund PDP Capital Investments. Mr. Alexander graduated from Berea College with high academic honors and a degree in Business Administration with a Finance Concentration.

Length: This audio interview is about 19 minutes long.

James O. Futterknecht, Jr - A Pioneer of Private Equity

Posted on April 16, 2008

 
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James O. FutterknechtOur guest today, Jim Futterknecht, has witnessed the private equity industry almost from its beginning. Jim has been involved in the automotive OEM supply industry since joining Excel Industries, Inc. as a line foreman in 1970. He served in a variety of sales and sales management roles at Excel in the 70’s and was elected Vice President of Sales and a member of the Board of Directors of Excel in 1976.

In 1983 Jim was part of a senior management group that purchased Excel in a highly leveraged buyout engineered by Hammond, Kennedy and Whitney Co. Back then there were no “private equity” firms. They were called LBO shops. Excel was the sort of buyout that most investors can only dream of, growing from $40 million in revenues at the time of the acquisition to a public company with over a billion dollars in revenue at the time of its sale.

Over time Jim’s role expanded into operational responsibly as well as sales. In 1986 he led a strategic project resulting in Ford Motor Company becoming Excel’s largest shareholder, largest customer, and largest supplier. In 1990, he was elected Executive Vice President and in 1992 promoted to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. He became Chairman, Present and CEO in 1995. In 1999 Jim led the merger of Excel into Dura Automotive Systems, Inc and joined the Dura Board.

Jim is currently a partner in Hammond, Kennedy and Whitney Co., a small cap private equity firm (www.hkwinc.com). Jim is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin (1969), happily married for 37 years, and the proud father of 2 adult daughters.

Length: This audio interview is about 27 minutes long.

Michael Wolverton - Accessing Private Equity Buyers

Posted on April 9, 2008

 
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Michael WolvertonWhen I first became active in M&A there were perhaps 150-200 private equity firms (then called LBO shops) in the United States.  Today there are probably 1500-2000 such firms which collectively own at least 20,000 portfolio companies.  Additionally there are myriad Sovereign Wealth Funds, international private equity firms, family offices and hedge firms active in the U. S. M&A market.

Matching a specific deal with those financial buyers most likely to be interested in that specific deal from an industry, size and risk perspective is a very difficult challenge akin to finding that proverbial needle in a haystack.  Our guest today, Michael Wolverton has developed a unique approach to meeting this challenge.  Michael is the founder and president of Cathedral Partners located in the Philadelphia suburb of Conshohocken.

Cathedral enhances communication between private equity firms and intermediaries by creating a platform that allows for confidential, controlled and efficient communication between its members.  By acting as a single connectivity point for buyers and sellers, Cathedral allows intermediaries to expand their reach while allowing private equity firms to augment their deal flow.

Prior to founding Cathedral Partners, Michael was responsible for leading the business development efforts of LLR Partners, a $620 million private equity firm based in Philadelphia. Before LLR, Michael served as Vice President for Penn Capital Management, a $4.5 Billion asset management firm. Michael received a BS in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh.

Length: This interview is about 17 minutes.