After a challenging 2022 and 2023, 2024 marked a significant rebound in global M&A activity, with total deal value rising as macroeconomic conditions stabilized, even as deal volume declined. Valuations found firmer footing, and capital markets reopened for dealmaking, leading to a double-digit increase in total PE deal value YoY. While overall transaction count decreased, a more disciplined deal environment…

2023 was a year with plenty of challenges for private equity and M&A as a whole:

• PE capital deployed in the US declined by 29.5% on the year and value derived decreased by 26.4%
• PE borrowing rates have remained high and are still near double the levels at which they stood at the start of 2022.
• While not as depressed

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2022 was a year with plenty of challenges for private equity and M&A as a whole:

• The growing valuations of late 2021 were stunted by the fastest-tightening cycle in 40-plus years.
  PE borrowing rates increased to double the levels at which they stood at the start of 2022 and are well into the double digits.
• The record deal activity we

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Many private-equity transactions are structured as an equity purchase (e.g., stock) rather than as a direct asset purchase. Sellers often prefer an equity sale because they expect to receive preferential capital gain treatment on any resulting gain and typically require a gross-up for any ordinary income tax liability on a deemed asset sale. At the same time, buyers generally prefer…

Selling your business externally to a 3rd party buyer/investor, more often than not, yields the highest value. It is a common strategy among business owners who are looking to diversify their personal financial risk and those who recognize that “going it alone” is no longer a long-term aspiration. The process of taking your business to market can be stressful and…

Business owners often dread telling their various stakeholders of their intent to sell the business. Done poorly, this process may negatively impact the business or deal process. Taking time to craft a strategy for informing stakeholders will help mitigate many of the risks associated with the M&A process.
Download our “Informing Stakeholders” guide to get tips on messaging the sale…

Ownership for key employees can be an instrumental strategy to retain and attract top talent within your business and increase value over the long term. When tackling key employee planning with our clients, our fundamental goals is to use these 8 steps as a foundational base to work through the process of  match the needs of the employees with the…