Lower Middle Market Weekly Outlook

In the increasingly competitive and changing private capital markets, what is your strategy to find and be found? That was the central tenet of Axial CEO Peter Lehrman’s speech last Tuesday at our inaugural conference, Axial Concord.

The schedule at Tuesday’s event, which brought together over 350 middle market investors, advisors, lenders, and private company owners, focused on tactical solutions to improve business development in the digital age. From why creating a strong digital presence is a necessary foundation, to the importance of substantially differentiating your firm, attendees left with new solutions to bring back to their colleagues. Unlike most middle market M&A conferences, 20% of attendees were transaction-ready CEOs seeking financing solutions or advisory services. Allowing for the entire entrepreneurial economy to be present meant more deals and better connections.

Over the next few weeks, we will share some of the best insights from these panels as well as the results of a survey we ran about online strategies in the middle market.

In other news, Hewlett-Packard is splitting into two companies.

Transactions:

• Oak Hill Capital Partners completes acquisition of Berlin Packaging
• Armory Capital invests in Envisage Technologies
• Caldwell Partners acquires Hawksmoor Search
• SB Capital Partners buys Aerations Only
• Kayne Partners invests $15 million in Zafin
• Pure Technologies acquires Hunter McDonnell Pipeline Services
• Francisco Partners to acquire Vendavo
• Littlejohn & Co. buys Interior Specialists
• Merit Capital Partners exits Sales Performance International
• Neogen acquires BioLumix
• PNC Mezz offers $22.5 million in Prospect Mold investment
• Parthenon Capital Partners sells Sequoia Golf Holdings
• Trinity Hunt Partners buys Miller Environmental Services
• Arcis Equity Partners recaps Eagle Golf
• Resilience Capital Partners acquires Riverside Manufacturing Company
• TPG buys “significant stake” in Angie’s Artisan Treats
• Octopus Investments acquires MedicX Holdings
• Fifth Street provides $195 million facility for BeyondTrust
• Dover Corp buys Accelerated Cos
• Palladium Equity Partners backs Pronto General Agency

Events:

• Tuesday: M&A East in Philadelphia
• Tuesday: World Business Forum in NYC
• Thursday: Private Equity Dealflow for Family Offices

Opinions:

• PE firms need to maintain a closer partnership with management team
• PE managers face growing competition for deals
• Healthcare M&A at risk from tax-inversion deal rules
• 7 questions for your investment banker
• The challenge of hospital mergers
• PE fundraising platform targets individual investors
• Why the PR industry is attracting a flurry of mergers and acquisitions
• 11 steps to create a more productive investment banking team
• Quarterly PE fundraising slows in Q3’14
• Canadian M&A activity soars as energy sector fuels growth
• Calpers isn’t done with high-fee investment gurus
• The 3 most expensive pharmaceutical deals
• Normalcy returns to PE with rising exits
• A scramble to acquire drug companies

This week in history… The Great Chicago Fire begins (1871).