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The Program Is Over. The Workout Is Not. When we first wrote about the Main Street Lending Program, the issue was straightforward: borrowers were approaching a five-year maturity wall and needed to prepare. That phase has now passed. The program stopped purchasing…
Read — The Last Main Street Loans: What Borrowers Need to Do Now
When business owners think about sale terms, attention usually goes first to valuation. That is understandable. But price is only part of the story. The more important question is often when and under what conditions that value actually gets paid. This is where earnouts enter the conversation. An earnout is a deal mechanism in which part of…
Read — Earnouts Demystified: Balancing Risk and Reward in Business Sales
Middle market M&A activity rarely slows because companies stop performing. More often, it slows or accelerates because buyers change their risk assessment. Economic cycles influence not just whether deals happen, but how they are structured, how they are valued, and which companies…
Read — How Economic Cycles Impact M&A Activity in Middle Market Companies
Not Every Private Company Is a Middle-Market Business Why understanding where your company fits is one of the most important decisions in any sale process When business owners begin thinking about a sale, the conversation usually starts with valuation. What is the…
Read — Main Street vs. Middle Market: Why It Matters When Selling Your Business
Sellers often view LOI as the finish line in an M&A process. In reality, it marks the beginning of the most execution-intensive phase of the transaction. The period between LOI and closing is where outcomes are ultimately determined. Buyers are validating assumptions,…
Read — From Letter of Intent to Closing: Navigating the Final Stages of a Deal
Many business owners assume increasing the value of their company before a sale simply means growing revenue or improving EBITDA. Growth certainly helps. But in middle-market transactions, valuation is rarely determined by size alone. Two companies with similar earnings can trade at…
Read — The RVD Model: A Practical Framework for Increasing Business Value Before a Sale
When preparing a business for sale, most owners focus on growth, profitability, and valuation multiples. Sophisticated buyers start somewhere else entirely: risk. Specifically, they ask a simple question that sits at the center of every transaction analysis: How durable is this company’s…
Read — Mitigating Risk Before Sale: Addressing Customer and Supplier Concentrations
In any M&A transaction, the identity of the buyer matters as much as the price. Strategic buyers, in particular, influence how a process unfolds, how a deal is structured, and the likelihood of a successful close. Unlike financial acquirers, strategic buyers evaluate…
In mergers and acquisitions, it is not uncommon for two companies with similar revenue, EBITDA, or growth profiles to command materially different valuations. While these disparities are often attributed to market timing or deal-specific dynamics, the more fundamental driver is usually risk.…
Read — Risk, Return, and Price: How Implied Cost of Capital Shapes M&A Valuations
Industry transitions tend to reveal which businesses are prepared for an exit and which are merely keeping pace. The automotive sector is firmly in such a moment. Electrification, supply-chain recalibration, and evolving customer demand have reshaped how buyers assess risk, growth, and…
Read — The Road to a Profitable Exit: Key Trends in Automotive M&A for 2025