Middle Market M&A Experts

Featured Experts

Divestopedia Team

Divestopedia is a resource for entrepreneurs who want to sell their business for the best price and terms. Whether you are thinking of selling, have started a sales process, or are post-deal, we aim to arm you with the knowledge required to maximize value and limit your downside risk.

Michael Carter

Michael Carter was the founding principal of Carter Morse & Goodrich where he serves as Managing Partner. He has been on the financial side of business from many perspectives: as a business founder, commercial lender, investment banker, board director, and business advisor.

Brad Mewes

Brad Mewes is the founder of Supplement!, a strategic, financial and M&A advisory firm specializing in the automotive aftermarket industry worldwide. He has been featured in publications globally including ABRN, Driving Sales News, Aftermarket Business World, Repairer Driven News, Ratchet + Wrench, Australasian Paint and Panel, and Motor China Magazine.Brad has an MBA from the University of California, Irvine with an emphasis in Finance. He graduated in the top 10% of his class. Brad received his undergraduate degree in International Economics with a concentration in Latin American Business from George Washington University in Washington, DC where he graduated with honors (cum laude). He has lived in both Mexico and Chile and has completed assignments in 14 countries on three different continents. Brad speaks Spanish fluently.

Q&As

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“Does M&A Tech Disintermediate Investment Bankers?”

100%. It's a case where that perception could be altered a little bit. Take the deal marketing example you mentioned. Oftentimes the investment bankers are struggling to gather information and...

Answered by: Ben Collins
Director of Product Marketing and Strategy

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“Embracing Tech in M&A Transactions: Why the Hesitation?”

I think one of the hesitations may be any change to existing, or more traditional, processes. There's general trepidation amongst M&A practitioners to fix something that they don't...

Answered by: Ben Collins
Director of Product Marketing and Strategy

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“What can M&A professionals do to better leverage technology?”

I think it's two things. So, you’ve got the sale-side and the buy-side. Two sides of the same coin with the M&A process. On the sale-side, we’re seeing a lot of bankers looking...

Answered by: Ben Collins
Director of Product Marketing and Strategy

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“Where has technology really improved the M&A process?”

It’s hard to pick just one area, but I think, first and foremost, it comes down to speed, so in this environment — which remains competitive for attractive assets — it’s...

Answered by: Ben Collins
Director of Product Marketing and Strategy

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“What are the current challenges concerning valuation uncertainty?”

Note: This content originally appeared in T/A Economics and has been published here with permission.The International Valuation Standards Council (IVSC) provided insight in how to deal with valuation...

Answered by: Kenny Van Tulder
Senior Manager

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“What are the best methods to find buyers for a business?”

I am of the opinion that in order to maximize value in the sale of a mid-market business, a widely-marketed sale process should be conducted. This means getting a no-names teaser to as many qualified...

Answered by: John Carvalho
President, Divestopedia Inc.

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“When is the best time of year to sell a business?”

There are plenty of articles answering the question: how long does it take to sell a business? The typical response is that it takes about 8 to 12 months to appropriately prepare, plan and execute...

Answered by: John Carvalho
President, Divestopedia Inc.

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“What should I look for with non-cash consideration?”

Receiving consideration other than cash is not uncommon. In fact, it is very rare that vendors receive all cash for their business. Different forms of non-cash consideration include a seller's note,...

Answered by: John Carvalho
President, Divestopedia Inc.

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“What's the difference between growth capex, maintenance capex and internally financed capex?”

There are generally two reasons companies spend money on capital expenditures (capex): to grow the business, and to maintain the business. Once a company determines it needs to make a capex...

Answered by: Brandon Hinkle

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“What are typical fee structures for portfolio companies by private equity groups?”

A private equity group has a lot of flexibility typically in how they collect fees or harvest value from a company in which they are invested. The form and structure of what those economics looks...

Answered by: James Darnell

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“Which attributes do private equity groups find attractive in a business?”

Private equity groups have a broad range of interests based on their investment strategy and the mandates they have been given by their investors of which types of businesses to invest in. These...

Answered by: James Darnell

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“What are some of the key differences between a financial buyer and strategic buyer?”

The key difference between a strategic buyer and a financial buyer is that a strategic buyer is typically going to be buying all of your company. There are a couple of differences once this happens....

Answered by: James Darnell

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“What tools do private equity firms use to create value?”

There aren't many proprietary tools that private equity groups can use to create value. Business management, sales, and marketing strategy have been well researched and published in which the best...

Answered by: James Darnell

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“What should a business owner expect from private equity due diligence?”

When the entrepreneur has decided to work with the private equity group, and they enter into a contract to close the deal, it will have to undergo a due diligence process that can be quite intensive....

Answered by: James Darnell

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“What should a business owner expect after being acquired by a private equity firm?”

That’s a good question. A business owner, upon entering into a relationship with a private equity group, is going to experience a range of things because they are really entering into a new business...

Answered by: James Darnell

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“What should a CEO consider when negotiating with private equity groups?”

There are probably too many things to list that are really important for a business owner to understand about their agreements and documents with a private equity group. It is very important for the...

Answered by: James Darnell

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“What is the single best thing I can do to sell my business at a premium?”

I’ll break it into two broad categories and I’ll give the underlying assumption. The underlying assumption is that at some point, all deals will come down to certain metrics. In the world that we...

Answered by: Kenneth H. Marks

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“What are important legal issues to consider in a Letter of Intent?”

Price and terms get locked down in an LOI, but they tend to get locked down on a "to be confirmed" by the due diligence phases. So if I’m on the buy side and I get some unexpected due diligence...

Answered by: Andrew J. Sherman

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“What corporate governance changes can drive shareholder value?”

To set the context of my answer, many lower mid-market companies have a Board of Directors, but the board is made up of someone's mother and brother who have never done anything except vote in his...

Answered by: Andrew J. Sherman

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“How do you value intangible assets in a business sale?”

You know from my book, Harvesting Intangible Assets, that this is a very, very big hot button topic for me. I believe that in this information-based social-media-driven economy that we now live in...

Answered by: Andrew J. Sherman

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