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THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF<br />

MAY <strong>2011</strong><br />

Leerink Swann’s<br />

James Boylan is<br />

among those<br />

anticipating<br />

healthcare dealflow<br />

will continue to<br />

swell, pushed<br />

along by a set of<br />

diverse drivers<br />

Cocktail<br />

Therapy<br />

THEMIDDLEMARKET.COM<br />

PLUS<br />

Black Swan Indifference<br />

SBIC’s Growing Popularity<br />

Inter<strong>Growth</strong> Wrap Up


Contents<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> | Volume 46 | Number 05<br />

Cover Story<br />

Cocktail<br />

Therapy<br />

Leerink Swann’s James<br />

Boylan is among those<br />

anticipating healthcare<br />

dealflow will continue to<br />

swell, pushed along by a<br />

set of diverse drivers<br />

24<br />

Cover Photograph by JohnCalabresePhotography.com<br />

The Watercooler<br />

8 Kid Brands suffers deal indigestion; a<br />

reality star becomes an M&A star; PE’s<br />

senior advisors bring benefits beyond<br />

operational oversight; and a new<br />

opportunity <strong>for</strong> distress, plus tomorrow’s<br />

deals, the Beltway monitor and other<br />

news deal pros are talking about<br />

Outlook<br />

14 Corralling the Black Swans<br />

16 Sizing up the Barriers to Entry<br />

18 Sprint’s Roadmap <strong>for</strong> Dissent<br />

LBO Watch<br />

20 Another IPO Heyday<br />

22 Tapping into the LP Mindset<br />

Inter<strong>Growth</strong> Wrap<br />

28 McChrystal Q&A: The Leadership<br />

Doctrine<br />

30 Strategic Power Shift<br />

Features<br />

32 The SBA’s Growing Popularity<br />

The Small Business Administration’s<br />

revitalized SBIC program is drawing<br />

investors of all stripes<br />

34 Guest Article: Recruiting and<br />

Retaining Talent<br />

CMF Associates’ Tom Bonney and<br />

Kathryn Kehoe describe that certain<br />

steps are required be<strong>for</strong>e and after a deal<br />

36 People<br />

47 Data<br />

<strong>Association</strong> <strong>for</strong><br />

<strong>Corporate</strong> <strong>Growth</strong><br />

4 Who’s Who<br />

6 Letter to Members<br />

40 The Pulse<br />

42 Community Commentary<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS


Inside Word<br />

<br />

Every year, Inter<strong>Growth</strong> seems to provide a pretty accurate gauge of the middle<br />

market. By the time this issue reaches readers’ mailboxes, it will have<br />

been almost exactly one year since the “flash crash” had Inter<strong>Growth</strong> attendees<br />

in Miami in a state of shock, underscoring the uncertainty that was still<br />

embedded in the deal market at the time. Within months, M&A activity would<br />

pick up, and the market would close with one of the more impressive fourth quarters<br />

in recent memory.<br />

Fast <strong>for</strong>ward to March, and the deal pros that made it out to San Diego seemed<br />

completely at ease -- moreso than at any point since I arrived at Mergers & Acquisitions<br />

in late 2007. Lenders I spoke to were confident that world events would not<br />

spook the credit markets, while deal pros gave off a sense of harried contentment<br />

that seemed to reflect an abundance of dealflow.<br />

As Brian McDonagh, managing director and co-head of Robert W. Baird said<br />

during the state of market panel, “Every day, we’re seeing a major strategic transaction<br />

take place, certainly every Monday.”<br />

For those in M&A, there is probably no better way to start the week. Our Inter-<br />

<strong>Growth</strong> coverage begins on page 30.<br />

Also in this issued, we covered the frenzied healthcare market <strong>for</strong> the <strong>May</strong> cover<br />

story that starts on page 24. Dealmakers, by and large, are bullish on the space,<br />

which is reflected in the activity and the valuations, but you have to wonder whether<br />

the demographic trends are overshadowing some of the potholes.<br />

Also this month, Danielle Fugazy covered the strides made by the SBA to attract<br />

investors to its SBIC program. The story, found on page 32, details that the SBA’s<br />

ef<strong>for</strong>ts appear to be paying dividends. Also, Tamika Cody explored the various<br />

barriers to entry dealmakers chase after, highlighting that some barriers may not<br />

provide the <strong>for</strong>tification buyers may hope <strong>for</strong>.<br />

Ken MacFadyen<br />

Editor<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions | TheMiddleMarket.com<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> Volume 46, Number 05<br />

Editor<br />

Senior Reporter<br />

Senior Reporter<br />

Contributing Editors<br />

Contributing Reporters<br />

Ken MacFadyen<br />

ken.macfadyen@sourcemedia.com<br />

Tamika Cody<br />

tamika.cody@sourcemedia.com<br />

Anthony Noto<br />

anthony.noto@sourcemedia.com<br />

Danielle Fugazy<br />

Carol Clouse<br />

carol.clouse@sourcemedia.com<br />

Matthew Sheahan<br />

Richard Kellerhals<br />

EVP & Managing Director Capital Markets Division Michael Stanton<br />

michael.stanton@sourcemedia.com<br />

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Mergers & Acquisitions (ISSN 0026-0010) Vol. 46 No. 05, is published<br />

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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


WHO’S WHO<br />

ACG Board 0f Directors<br />

Chairman*<br />

Michael A. Carr<br />

Partner, BAC Investments, LLC<br />

ACG Los Angeles<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Vice Chairman*<br />

Andrew W. Rice<br />

Senior Vice President, The Jordan Company<br />

ACG Chicago<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

President & Chief Executive Officer*<br />

Gary A. LaBranche, CAE<br />

ACG Headquarters<br />

Chairman of Finance*<br />

Cliff Braly<br />

Partner, Deloitte Tax LLP<br />

ACG Dallas/Fort Worth<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Secretary<br />

Tom Walton<br />

Managing Director, Hanley, Hammill, Thomas<br />

ACG Wisconsin<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Chairman of Inter<strong>Growth</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />

Jack Helms<br />

Chairman, Lazard Middle Market<br />

ACG Minnesota<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Chairman of Inter<strong>Growth</strong> 2012<br />

Doug Tatum<br />

CEO, The Co-Investment Partnership LLC<br />

ACG Atlanta<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Immediate Past Chairman<br />

Dennis J. White<br />

Partner, Verrill Dana, LLP<br />

ACG Boston<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Chapter Representative Directors<br />

Tracy Albert*<br />

Managing Director, Houlihan Lokey Howard & Zukin<br />

ACG Orange County<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Dan Amadori<br />

President, Lamerac Financial Corp.<br />

ACG Toronto<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Spencer J. Brown<br />

President, Spencer J. Brown & Associates<br />

ACG Portland<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Vanessa Brown Claiborne<br />

President, Chaffe & Associates<br />

ACG Louisiana<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Richard P. Jaffe*<br />

Partner, Duane Morris, LLP<br />

ACG Philadelphia<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

John Kerschen<br />

Managing Director, The Charter Group<br />

ACG Western Michigan<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Charles Morton<br />

Partner, Venable LLP<br />

ACG Maryland<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Wendy Neal*<br />

Director, International Commodity Alliance, Ltd.<br />

ACG Cleveland<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Clif<strong>for</strong>d R. Pearl<br />

Of Counsel, Hensley Kim & Holzer LLC<br />

ACG Denver<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Ashley Rountree<br />

Managing Director, C.W. Downer & Company<br />

ACG France<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Tom Tullidge<br />

Managing Director, Cary Street Partners<br />

ACG Richmond<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Directors At Large<br />

Les Alexander<br />

Managing Director, Fairway Capital<br />

ACG Louisiana<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Erik Dykema<br />

Principal, Lineage Capital LLC<br />

ACG Boston<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Ed Fisher<br />

Managing Partner, SouthPointe Ventures<br />

ACG Atlanta<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Michael Gibbons<br />

President, Brown Gibbons Lang & Co.<br />

ACG Cleveland<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Patti Gillenwater<br />

CEO, Elinvar<br />

ACG Raleigh Durham<br />

Term expires 2013<br />

Penny Hulbert<br />

Managing Director, Links Financial<br />

ACG Tampa Bay<br />

Term expires 2012<br />

Stuart Johnson<br />

Partner, Barnes & Thornburg, LLP<br />

ACG Atlanta<br />

Term expires <strong>2011</strong><br />

Cory Mims<br />

Managing Director, ICV Capital Partners<br />

ACG New York<br />

Term expires 2013<br />

Stephen V. Prostor<br />

Director, Citi Private Bank<br />

ACG New York<br />

Term expires 2013<br />

* Member of the Executive Committee<br />

ACG Honorary Directors<br />

Robert G. Coffey<br />

Alan B. Gelband<br />

ACG Chapters<br />

ACG 101 Corridor<br />

acg.org/101<br />

ACG Arizona<br />

acg.org/arizona<br />

ACG Atlanta<br />

acg.org/atlanta<br />

ACG Austria<br />

acg.org/austria<br />

ACG Boston<br />

acgboston.org<br />

ACG Calgary<br />

acg.org/calgary<br />

ACG Central Texas<br />

acg.org/centraltexas<br />

ACG Charlotte<br />

acg.org/charlotte<br />

ACG Chicago<br />

acgchicago.com<br />

ACG China<br />

acg.org/china<br />

ACG Cincinnati<br />

acg.org/cincinnati<br />

ACG Cleveland<br />

acg.org/cleveland<br />

ACG Columbus<br />

acg.org/columbus<br />

ACG Connecticut<br />

acg.org/connecticut<br />

ACG Czech Republic<br />

acg.org/czechrepublic<br />

ACG Dallas/Fort Worth<br />

acg.org/dallas<br />

ACG Denver<br />

acg.org/denver<br />

ACG Detroit<br />

acg.org/detroit<br />

ACG France<br />

acg.org/paris<br />

ACG Frankfurt<br />

acg.org/frankfurt<br />

ACG Holland<br />

acg.org/holland<br />

ACG Houston<br />

acg.org/houston<br />

ACG Indiana<br />

acg.org/indiana<br />

ACG Kansas City<br />

acg.org/kc<br />

ACG External Affairs/Media Manager<br />

Greg Fine, gfine@acg.org<br />

Matt Switzer, mswitzer@acg.org<br />

ACG Sponsorship Director<br />

Kris Wolcott, kwolcott@acg.org, 312-673-4981<br />

Contributors<br />

Gary A. LaBranche, Michael A. Carr, Tom Gage, Robert W. Stewart<br />

ACG Kentucky<br />

acg.org/kentucky<br />

ACG Los Angeles<br />

acgla.org<br />

ACG Louisiana<br />

acg.org/louisiana<br />

ACG Maryland<br />

acg.org/maryland<br />

ACG Minnesota<br />

acg.org/minnesota<br />

ACG National Capital<br />

acgcapital.org<br />

ACG Nebraska<br />

acg.org/nebraska<br />

ACG New Jersey<br />

acg.org/newjersey<br />

ACG New York<br />

acg.org/nyc<br />

ACG North Florida<br />

acg.org/northflorida<br />

ACG Orange County<br />

acg.org/occ<br />

ACG Orlando<br />

acg.org/orlando<br />

ACG Philadelphia<br />

acg.org/philadelphia<br />

ACG Pittsburgh<br />

acg.org/pittsburgh<br />

ACG Portland<br />

acg.org/portland<br />

ACG Raleigh Durham<br />

acg.org/raleighdurham<br />

ACG Rhein-Ruhr<br />

acg.org/rheinruhr<br />

ACG Richmond<br />

acg.org/richmond<br />

ACG San Diego<br />

acg.org/sandiego<br />

ACG San Francisco<br />

acg.org/sanfrancisco<br />

ACG Seattle<br />

acg.org/seattle<br />

ACG Silicon Valley<br />

acg.org/sv<br />

ACG South Florida<br />

acg.org/southflorida<br />

ACG St. Louis<br />

acg.org/stlouis<br />

ACG Tampa Bay<br />

acg.org/tampabay<br />

ACG Tennessee<br />

acg.org/tennessee<br />

ACG Toronto<br />

acg.org/toronto<br />

ACG Utah<br />

acg.org/utah<br />

ACG Vancouver<br />

acg.org/vancouver<br />

ACG Western Michigan<br />

acg.org/wmich<br />

ACG Wisconsin<br />

acg.org/wisconsin<br />

<strong>Association</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Corporate</strong> <strong>Growth</strong><br />

71 S. Wacker Drive, Suite 2760<br />

Chicago, IL 60606<br />

ACG Membership: 877-358-2220<br />

www.acg.org<br />

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


LETTER TO MEMBERS<br />

An Open Forum<br />

In the wake of another successful Inter<strong>Growth</strong>, ACG introduces a plat<strong>for</strong>m to foster the sharing<br />

of members’ ‘growth stories’<br />

GARY A. LaBRANCHE and MICHAEL A. CARR<br />

We would be remiss without opening<br />

our monthly letter with a<br />

thank you to everyone who made<br />

Inter<strong>Growth</strong> <strong>2011</strong> such a success. The event<br />

was the largest Inter<strong>Growth</strong> ever, and the<br />

feedback attendees have been providing has<br />

been very positive. Check out this month’s<br />

“Few fully understand the important<br />

role of each stakeholder in driving<br />

middle-market growth.”<br />

Pulse column on page 40 <strong>for</strong> just a capture of<br />

what some attendees learned and benefited<br />

from at this year’s event.<br />

ACG Launches Middle-Market Private<br />

Capital Leadership Forum (The Forum) to<br />

Tell the “<strong>Growth</strong> Stories” of the Middle-<br />

Market<br />

ACG has responded to member requests<br />

and is moving <strong>for</strong>ward in becoming a more<br />

active and visible voice <strong>for</strong> the middle market<br />

dealmaking and corporate growth community.<br />

Middle-market investors, lenders, advisors,<br />

and corporate leaders quietly go about<br />

their business every day. As a result, middlemarket<br />

companies grow, add jobs, serve<br />

customers and contribute to their communities.<br />

But few know or fully understand the<br />

important role of each stakeholder in driving<br />

middle-market growth. Un<strong>for</strong>tunately, negative<br />

views of our industry have prevailed and<br />

there is an absence of positive stories describing<br />

how members of the ACG community<br />

build and grow middle-market companies.<br />

To advance the positive story of middlemarket<br />

private capital investment, ACG has<br />

created the Middle-Market Private Capital<br />

Leadership Forum<br />

(The Forum). The<br />

Forum will support<br />

projects and<br />

research designed<br />

to tell the story of<br />

how privately-held middle-market companies<br />

grow jobs, add to the tax base, enhance prosperity<br />

<strong>for</strong> employees and entrepreneurs, and<br />

power our economy. The Forum is organized<br />

to communicate how private capital delivers<br />

public good.<br />

We encourage you to visit www.middlemarketgrowth.org,<br />

learn more about what<br />

The Forum is doing and how you can add your<br />

voice to the story.<br />

If you have questions regarding the Forum<br />

or would like additional in<strong>for</strong>mation, please<br />

contact Greg Fine, ACG vice president of marketing<br />

and communications at 312-957-4277<br />

or gfine@acg.org.<br />

Keeping Limited Partners Happy—a<br />

Joint White Paper from Grant Thornton<br />

and ACG<br />

Last but not least, we’d like to draw your<br />

attention to a new joint white paper released<br />

by Grant Thornton and ACG regarding limited<br />

partners (LPs) current and future expectations.<br />

With LPs remaining somewhat cautious<br />

about investing, many private equity firms are<br />

faced with the prospect of not being able to<br />

raise a new fund in <strong>2011</strong> or, <strong>for</strong> some, ever<br />

again. Visit www.acg.org and click on the<br />

banner on the left hand side of the page to<br />

download it <strong>for</strong> free!<br />

Gary A. LaBranche, CAE<br />

President & CEO<br />

President & CEO<br />

Michael A. Carr<br />

Chairman<br />

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Watercooler<br />

Kid Brands Suffers Deal Indigestion<br />

The 2008 acquisition of LaJobi is producing<br />

headaches that take the <strong>for</strong>m of a customs<br />

investigation<br />

The 2008 acquisition of LaJobi has come back to haunt<br />

Kid Brands, Inc., which is now the subject of an ongoing<br />

investigation. Kid Brands said in March<br />

it had fired both the subsidiary’s managing director of<br />

operations and its president, Larry Bivona, who was part<br />

of the group that sold LaJobi to Kid Brands nearly three<br />

years ago. The firings were precipitated after the board of<br />

directors found misconduct related to the customs duty<br />

paid on products imported from China -- putting the<br />

company in violation of anti-dumping regulations.<br />

Kid Brands, <strong>for</strong>merly known as Russ Berrie & Co.,<br />

originally acquired LaJobi <strong>for</strong> $47 million -- a deal that<br />

occurred alongside the $16 million acquisition of CocaLo<br />

Inc.<br />

Larry Bivona and his brother Joe Bivona had founded the<br />

infant furniture business in 1994. Upon the sale to Kid Brands,<br />

Joe Bivona retired, while Larry Bivona structured a three-year<br />

employment contract to stay on at LaJobi post close. An earnout<br />

agreement was also included, which could have produced<br />

another $15 million in proceeds <strong>for</strong> the sellers. Kid Brands,<br />

however, cited that it does not intend to make any earnout payment<br />

in light of the discovered malfeasance.<br />

The board, after it was made aware of potential issues, retained<br />

Skadden Arps to conduct the probe. Among the findings,<br />

LaJobi had applied<br />

incorrect import duties on<br />

S H U T T E R -<br />

STOCK: 56158117<br />

Attempts to skirt import duties costs Kid Brands<br />

certain wooden furniture<br />

imported from Chinese<br />

vendors, as certain employees<br />

allegedly misidentified<br />

the manufacturers<br />

and shippers of products.<br />

The ongoing investigation<br />

also focuses on staffing<br />

practices in LaJobi’s business<br />

in Asia.<br />

Kid Brands expects to pay an additional $7 million related<br />

to customs duty and could be assessed a penalty that matches<br />

the amount owed.<br />

Escape Reality<br />

Bethenny Frankel unloads her Skinnygirl<br />

cocktail business after two years of building<br />

the brand as a reality TV star<br />

The first week of March saw dealmaker Lynn Tilton<br />

make her debut as a reality star; less than three weeks<br />

later, Bethenny Frankel, best known <strong>for</strong> her time on reality<br />

show The Real Housewives of New York City, crossed into<br />

M&A. She sold her Skinnygirl line of low-calorie cocktails to<br />

POLITE CONVERSATION<br />

“What I would do differently is I just would never<br />

have mentioned it to Warren, and just made my own<br />

investment and left it alone.”<br />

—David Sokol, the disgraced Berkshire Hathaway vet, who resigned amid scrutiny<br />

into his personal investment in Lubrizol. Speaking to CNBC, Sokol revealed<br />

that his investment in Lubrizol followed meetings with bankers representing<br />

the company, but preceded Berkshire Hathaway’s acquisition of Lubrizol.<br />

Fortune Brands’ Beam Global.<br />

Frankel launched the company just two<br />

years ago, bringing in Skyy Vodka veteran<br />

David Kanbar as a co-investor. Terms of<br />

the deal were not disclosed.<br />

The brand, of course, has benefitted<br />

from Frankel’s exposure on the reality show<br />

circuit. In 2005, she was a contestant on<br />

the short-lived and little watched Apprentice<br />

spinoff featuring Martha Stewart. Two<br />

years later, she was<br />

included in the cast<br />

of “Real Housewives<br />

Bethenny Frankel, dealmaker<br />

of New York City,” where the Skinnygirl<br />

brand has played a bit role. In 2009, it<br />

was Frankel’s promotional ef<strong>for</strong>ts <strong>for</strong> the<br />

brand that led to a falling out with BFF<br />

Jill Zarin, who took issue with the Skinnygirl<br />

signage at a charity event.<br />

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Leaning on Operating Execs<br />

<strong>for</strong> Dealflow<br />

Providence Equity’s acquisition of SRA<br />

underscores the value some senior advisors<br />

can provide<br />

In the quest <strong>for</strong> operational capabilities, the PE industry has<br />

turned en masse to <strong>for</strong>mer business executives. In a competitive<br />

environment, it turns out these executives are also<br />

proving themselves useful when it comes to dealsourcing.<br />

Providence Equity Partners’ late March acquisition of SRA<br />

International, <strong>for</strong> instance, came roughly a year after the firm<br />

tapped Renato DePentima as a senior advisor. DePentima, of<br />

course, had previously served as president and chief executive<br />

officer of SRA, retiring in 2007.<br />

The deal, announced in the first week of April, valued SRA<br />

at $1.88 billion. Providence agreed to a go-shop provision, but<br />

negotiated matching rights should any topping offers emerge.<br />

According to analysts at Lazard, however, the enlistment of De-<br />

Pentima gives Providence an edge and his presence will likely<br />

serve as the “primary impediment” squelching outside interest.<br />

Others too have called on their senior advisors to multitask.<br />

When New Mountain Capital acquired Covidien’s Mallinckrodt<br />

Baker specialty chemicals business last year, the deal came a<br />

year after <strong>for</strong>mer Rohm & Haas chairman and CEO Raj Gupta<br />

was brought in as a senior<br />

advisor. Gupta, coincidentally,<br />

is a boardmember<br />

at <strong>for</strong>mer<br />

Covidien parent Tyco<br />

International.Advent<br />

International is another<br />

firm that has at times<br />

leaned their operating<br />

partners to channel<br />

dealflow. Jenny Ming,<br />

Advent’s Jenny Ming among those who<br />

have multi-tasked into dealsourcing<br />

the <strong>for</strong>mer Old Navy<br />

president, was able to<br />

walk the firm through<br />

the Charlotte Russe opportunity,<br />

which translated into an investment in 2009, less<br />

than a year into Ming’s tenure at Advent.<br />

The Next, Great Distress<br />

Opportunity<br />

Fundamental Advisors raises its second<br />

PE fund to target the muni market<br />

Dealmakers love a dislocation. And it was only a matter<br />

of time be<strong>for</strong>e investors began looking <strong>for</strong> ways to<br />

capitalize on the oft-predicted muni crisis.<br />

Laurence Gottlieb, less than three years after<br />

raising his debut fund, is back in the market seeking<br />

$750 million <strong>for</strong> Fundamental Partners II,<br />

LP -- his second private equity vehicle targeting<br />

opportunities in distressed municipal bonds.<br />

Gottlieb, who sits as chairman and CEO of<br />

Fundamental Advisors, launched the firm in<br />

2007 with Dana Fusaris, a managing director and<br />

co-founder.<br />

Gottlieb previously headed Citigroup’s municipal<br />

distressed and special situations prop<br />

desk, while Fusaris had been a portfolio director<br />

at Madison Capital Management. Daniel Gilman, Gottlieb’s<br />

<strong>for</strong>mer co-head at Citi, also signed on as a managing director.<br />

The new fund suggests Fundamental has already committed<br />

the bulk of its 2007-vintage first vehicle. The firm’s website<br />

discloses just one deal, the acquisition of minor league franchise<br />

The Memphis Redbirds. The team was acquired after Fundamental<br />

bought up the muni bonds issued to build the team’s<br />

stadium, AutoZone Park.<br />

The new fund comes as<br />

clouds continue to loom<br />

over the muni bond segment.<br />

Meredith Whitney<br />

sounded the alarms in a<br />

report late last year and an<br />

ensuing interview on “60<br />

Minutes,” in which she<br />

<strong>for</strong>ecast that the defaults<br />

in the space would reach<br />

the hundreds of billions of<br />

dollars.<br />

Meredith Whitney among those pumping muni distress<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong><br />

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS


Watercooler<br />

TOMORROW’S DEALS<br />

Hachette Sale Sets Up New<br />

Strategy <strong>for</strong> Lagardere<br />

The France-based media group is expected<br />

to pursue sports representation assets<br />

Expect to see Lagardere SCA make waves within the sports<br />

representation industry, thanks to the sale of its international<br />

magazines business to Hearst Corp.<br />

The French media group, in the last week of March, agreed<br />

to deal handing over its Hachette portfolio, featuring 102 magazine<br />

titles, to New York-based media<br />

conglomerate Hearst. The move,<br />

observers say, will allow Lagardere to<br />

put the €651 million ($918 million)<br />

in proceeds toward acquisitions to<br />

bolster its growing sports division.<br />

Lagardere Unlimited, launched<br />

last <strong>May</strong> with the goal of expanding<br />

the publishing company into the<br />

sports marketing arena, is gaining<br />

traction as a <strong>for</strong>midable competitor to Forstmann Little & Co.’s<br />

IMG Worldwide Inc.<br />

In June, Lagardere acquired Louisville, Ken.-based Blue<br />

Entertainment Sports Television (BEST), which represents<br />

Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick, <strong>for</strong> undisclosed<br />

terms. Media reports now indicate that Cleveland-based IMG<br />

could be next.<br />

Forstmann acquired IMG <strong>for</strong> $750 million in November<br />

2004.<br />

Some marketwatchers, however, believe Lagardere is more<br />

likely to sweep up smaller, sport specific assets.<br />

“So much of its business is international,” says a source in<br />

the sports marketing industry, referring to IMG’s size and global<br />

reach. “A more likely target [<strong>for</strong> Lagardere] is a younger firm<br />

that has promising young clients and prowess in<br />

the recruiting world.”<br />

The source pointed to Australia’s SFX Sports<br />

Group Pty Ltd. as a possible target.<br />

The sector has seen limited deal activity. Wasserman<br />

Media Group is among those that have<br />

been active buyers, acquiring a number of SFX<br />

properties in 2006, including its football, rugby<br />

and marketing and events divisions. Wasserman,<br />

in March, was also rumored to be close to a deal<br />

<strong>for</strong> SFX Golf, according to reports.<br />

Meanwhile, Lagardere expects to complete its transaction<br />

with Hearst over the next couple of months. Initial discussions<br />

began in late 2010. — ANTHONY NOTO<br />

Constellation Exploring<br />

Strategic Alternatives<br />

The Canadian software developer hired Bank<br />

of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital<br />

Markets to manage a potential process<br />

Constellation Software Inc. is evaluating strategic options<br />

as a means to raise shareholder value, hiring investment<br />

advisers Bank of America Merrill Lynch and BMO Capital<br />

Markets to assist the process.<br />

Details of the review, including a timeline and whether it is<br />

seeking a capital raise or a sale of assets, were not disclosed.<br />

Constellation, which develops customized software <strong>for</strong> private<br />

and public sector entities, has been particularly active pursuing<br />

M&A over the past year. In January, the Toronto-based company<br />

purchased certain software assets of John Deere Agri Services Inc.<br />

from Moline, Ill.-based agricultural giant Deere & Co. In October,<br />

Constellation acquired the Health–Clinical business of GFI<br />

Solutions Group Inc. and also bought utility software provider<br />

Cogsdale.<br />

Including a handful of other deals, the company spent $114.2<br />

million on acquisitions throughout 2010, a 53% increase over<br />

the previous 12 months.<br />

According to analysts, the company’s diversified end markets<br />

better lends itself to financial buyers. Constellation, while public,<br />

is still controlled by private equity investors Birch Hill Equity<br />

Partners and OMERs, which took the company public in 2006.<br />

TD Newcrest, in a research note found on Thomson One<br />

Analytics, cited: “Constellation management has done an outstanding<br />

job of finding and executing on M&A opportunities.<br />

As a result, the company now serves over 40 different verticals.<br />

However, given the diverse nature of Constellation’s business,<br />

potential synergies <strong>for</strong> strategic buyers are not obvious to us.”<br />

Total revenue <strong>for</strong> 2010 grew 44% to $631 million, year over<br />

year. — ANTHONY NOTO<br />

10 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Watercooler<br />

BELTWAY MONITOR<br />

New Bill Aims to Void Dodd-Frank<br />

Registration Requirements<br />

Riverside Co.’s Pam Hendrickson spoke in<br />

front of the House Committee on Financial<br />

Services to help make the case <strong>for</strong> PE<br />

Private equity’s eleventh-hour ef<strong>for</strong>ts in Washington are<br />

starting to gain some traction, as sponsors seek to push<br />

off registration requirements. Virginia Congressman<br />

Robert Hurt introduced a bill, “The<br />

Small Business Capital Access and Job Preservation<br />

Act,” that seeks to extend to private equity the same<br />

exemption venture capital firms receive under Title<br />

IV of the Dodd-Frank act.<br />

In the bill, private equity funds would be spared<br />

from both registration and reporting requirements,<br />

although the legislation does call <strong>for</strong> the Securities<br />

and Exchange Commission to come up with a<br />

“definition” of private equity to determine exactly<br />

which firms would gain exemption. Also, firms<br />

would be required to maintain records and provide the SEC<br />

with reports documenting “fund size, governance, investment<br />

strategy, risk and other factors.”<br />

Hurt, in a statement during the March subcommittee hearing,<br />

noted that the registration requirements <strong>for</strong> private equity,<br />

as they currently stand, “do not make the financial system more<br />

stable or less risky,” but rather “impose an undue burden on<br />

small and mid-sized” firms.<br />

The Riverside Co.’s Pam Hendrickson spoke in front of the<br />

Subcommittee on the same day, and reiterated many of the familiar<br />

gripes sponsors have made about the new law. She stayed<br />

true to the theme that registration, while diverting resources,<br />

will do little to “accomplish the [Dodd-Frank] Act’s stated purpose<br />

of helping identify and reduce systemic risk.”<br />

While it remains to be seen how far Congressman Hurt’s<br />

bill will go, the drafting of the<br />

legislation is a sign that sponsors<br />

are at least being heard.<br />

At press time, on the evening<br />

of April 8, came word that the<br />

filing date <strong>for</strong> private fund<br />

registration had been extended<br />

six months -- perhaps a<br />

more poignant sign legislators<br />

are listening and likely a relief<br />

<strong>for</strong> sponsors unprepared <strong>for</strong><br />

the original July deadline.<br />

Hurt’s bill was introduced alongside a new slate of repeal<br />

legislation unveiled on the same day seeking to tweak to Dodd<br />

Frank act. Among the other legislative proposals were a bill to<br />

amend the definitions of “a major swap participant,” a bill to<br />

repeal section 939G of the Dodd-Frank act dealing with certain<br />

rating agency exemptions, and legislation to repeal certain disclosure<br />

requirements of the Consumer Protection Act.<br />

PE found an advocate in Congressman Robert Hurt<br />

FTC, DOJ Provide Clarity on<br />

Healthcare Antitrust<br />

Following the CMS’s new rules on accountable<br />

care organizations, antitrust regulators<br />

created a “safety zone” <strong>for</strong> qualified<br />

ACOs, but offered no leeway <strong>for</strong> M&A in the<br />

sector<br />

It has been more than a year since the Patient Protection and<br />

Af<strong>for</strong>dable Care Act was signed into law. While the sweeping<br />

healthcare re<strong>for</strong>m bill has driven M&A and encouraged<br />

scale as a way to squeeze efficiencies out of the system, one lingering<br />

unknown relates to how the antitrust regulators will view<br />

the consolidation that ensues among healthcare providers.<br />

The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice<br />

provided some clarity in late March, issuing a joint statement<br />

detailing how the agencies intend to en<strong>for</strong>ce antitrust law<br />

<strong>for</strong> Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).<br />

While the guidance from the FTC and DOJ bodes well <strong>for</strong><br />

participants in ACOs, a proposed “safety zone” and the expedited<br />

review do little <strong>for</strong> buyers and sellers in the healthcare space.<br />

The policy statement explicitly said that merger transactions,<br />

including deals that meet the criteria of the new “competitor<br />

collaboration guidelines,” will continue to be evaluated under<br />

the agencies’ horizontal merger guidelines, which were updated<br />

last year.<br />

The FTC and DOJ are soliciting comments about the proposal<br />

until <strong>May</strong> 31 of this year.<br />

12 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Motorola/Nokia Deal Delayed<br />

Chinese regulators have extended the<br />

review period of Motorola’s asset sale<br />

China’s antitrust regulator extended its review of Motorola<br />

Solutions’ sale of its network-equipment business<br />

to Nokia Siemens Networks. The deal was originally<br />

announced in July and expected to close in December 2010.<br />

“This is ‘Phase Three.’ The third review,’” a Motorola spokesman<br />

said.<br />

Schaumberg, Ill.-based Motorola is dependent on the $1.2<br />

billion deal with Nokia Siemens -- a joint venture between<br />

Nokia Corp. and Siemens AG – in order to move ahead with its<br />

planned restructuring. It must now wait another 60 days be<strong>for</strong>e<br />

China’s Anti-Monopoly Bureau of the Ministry of Commerce<br />

(Mofcom) makes a decision on whether or not to approve the<br />

transaction.<br />

Chinese rival Huawei Technologies sued to block the deal<br />

in January and a month later won an injunction on allegations<br />

that the sale would illegally transfer intellectual property used in<br />

certain Motorola products.<br />

It’s also worth noting that legislators in the US have applied<br />

more scrutiny to Chinese telecom companies, including Huawei<br />

and ZTE. Reportedly, the two have been excluded from<br />

certain contracts due to national security concerns.<br />

“It’s going to be interesting to see how this plays out,” said<br />

tech analyst Rob Enderle of San Jose, Calif.-based Enderle<br />

Group. “The bureaucracy in China is unique in its difficulty.”<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 13


Outlook<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

Dealmakers aren’t necessarily inured to black<br />

swan events, but following the tragic tsunami<br />

in Japan and uprisings in the Middle<br />

East, the M&A market has proven itself to be resilient<br />

in the face of the unexpected.<br />

Even the affected regions continue to witness a<br />

steady supply of deal flow. Japan’s Oji Paper Co., <strong>for</strong><br />

instance, recently acquired Lombard Investments’<br />

stake in Thai packaging manufacturer P.Pack & Print<br />

Public Co. The deal was announced on March 28,<br />

just two weeks after the 8.9 magnitude earthquake<br />

and ensuing tsunami devastated much of the country.<br />

On the same day, Japan’s Ikuyo Co. sold its USi Tennessee-based<br />

hard coating business to Cooper-Standard<br />

and Japanese microchip test maker Advantest<br />

Corp. agreed to buy Singapore rival Verigy in a $1.1<br />

billion deal. The Carlyle Group, not to be outdone,<br />

acquired Japan’s Tsubaki Nakashima Co., a maker of<br />

industrial steel balls, and also launched a new fund<br />

targeting Sub-Sahara Africa.<br />

Closer to home, in the domestic middle market,<br />

dealflow continued unabated. “We have seen absolutely<br />

zero reticence on the part of buyers,” describes<br />

Rob Parker, a co-founder and managing director with<br />

Birmingham, Mich.-based investment bank Quarton<br />

Partners. He cites one deal the firm is currently working<br />

on in which roughly 10% of the target company’s<br />

sales come from Japan. “It’s a topic that is discussed,”<br />

he says, but adds he has yet to see any suitors turned<br />

off by the exposure.<br />

Even the lender universe — normally the more<br />

temperamental constituency in M&A -- is overlooking<br />

the recent rash of events. Two lenders Mergers &<br />

Acquisitions spoke to recently express the same sentiment<br />

as Parker. If a specific credit isn’t impacted, they<br />

aren’t going to be spooked by risks that can’t be <strong>for</strong>ecast<br />

or predicted.<br />

One might assume that the string of bad news<br />

would at least slow down what has been a strong recovery<br />

<strong>for</strong> the deal market. Indeed, the earthquake in<br />

Japan and the unrest in the Middle East will surely<br />

be felt in a number of specific sectors -- from the automotive<br />

and tech industries to the energy, luxury<br />

retail, food and defense sectors, among others. But<br />

again, the impact appears muted. For instance, in the<br />

face of renewed nuclear fears, Russia’s state-owned<br />

JSC Atomredmetzoloto (ARMZ) merely revised the<br />

terms of its acquisition <strong>for</strong> uranium miner Mantra<br />

Resources, trimming the purchase price from A$1.16<br />

billion to A$1.02 billion. As part of the revised agreement,<br />

ARMZ also waived its material adverse change<br />

clause.<br />

But the robust pace of M&A activity may actually<br />

belie dealmakers’ revised approach in ever-uncertain<br />

times, especially <strong>for</strong> a market that has only become<br />

more global and interconnected over the past decade.<br />

In 2006, it was Hurricane Katrina; the next year saw<br />

coup d’états in Thailand and Fiji and by 2007, the<br />

first cracks started to emerge in the global financial<br />

markets. Since then, dealmakers have had to absorb<br />

the sovereign debt crisis in Europe, the BP oil spill, a<br />

devastating earthquake in Haiti and the recent developments<br />

in the Middle East and Japan.<br />

José Feliciano, a founding partner of private equity<br />

firm Clearlake Capital Partners, notes that while<br />

black swan events won’t dissuade investors from pursuing<br />

deals, the volatility encourages acquirers to<br />

hedge their bets. For Clearlake, a special situations<br />

firm, that translates into less leverage and more pricing<br />

discipline.<br />

Feliciano, though, says it goes beyond deal terms.<br />

“We’re a lot more focused today on input pricing,”<br />

he describes. He adds that it’s not only an awareness<br />

of commodity volatility, but also a focus on the availability<br />

of input resources.<br />

He cites that a number of manufacturers have<br />

moved operations to Mexico in recent years. Alluding<br />

to the political unrest in the country, he warns, “If<br />

14 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


there isn’t any redundancy, you have to worry about a<br />

hidden supply chain risk.”<br />

Another factor, one that Feliciano says became more<br />

prominent in the wake of the debt crisis, is the credit<br />

profile of a target company’s customer base. In the past,<br />

buyers would key in on customer concentration, and<br />

pay special attention to a target’s largest clients. Today,<br />

Feliciano says, “We’ll spend a lot more time concentrating<br />

on the next nine customers.”<br />

The rapid succession of world-changing events is<br />

in part accentuated by the flow of in<strong>for</strong>mation that at<br />

times can threaten to overwhelm investors. Feliciano<br />

says the challenge <strong>for</strong> acquirers today is to “distill the<br />

significant facts and tune out the noise,” adding, “a lot<br />

of noise is out there.”<br />

He points to Clearlake’s recent recapitalization of<br />

Platinum Energy Solutions, a services provider to the<br />

domestic oil and natural gas sector. “If you just read<br />

the headlines or pay attention to natural gas prices,<br />

you would get the idea that it’s not a great place to invest...<br />

once you really drill down and understand the<br />

industry, you distinguish between the misin<strong>for</strong>mation<br />

and relevant facts.”<br />

Parker, meanwhile, adds that deal pros have become<br />

accustomed to taking in and synthesizing in<strong>for</strong>mation.<br />

And while it may add volatility to the public<br />

markets, buyers and sellers have become less reactive<br />

than they may have been a decade ago. “There is so<br />

much efficiency with in<strong>for</strong>mation today. If anything<br />

happens on any part of the globe, you’re going to<br />

hear about,” he says. “It may have de-sensitized us a<br />

little bit, but buyers today are more apt to try to get<br />

their arms around something be<strong>for</strong>e simply dismissing<br />

it.”<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 15


Outlook<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“ <br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

There is usually one characteristic that separates<br />

the ‘must have’ targets from the assets that fail<br />

to seduce buyers. Ask a panel of dealmakers,<br />

and they’ll respond in unison that it’s the barriers to<br />

entry that distinguish the great assets from those that<br />

generate indifference. But as past deals have shown,<br />

perceived barriers can also quickly crumble.<br />

Take The Carlyle Group’s acquisition of Oriental<br />

Trading Company. When the firm acquired the<br />

company <strong>for</strong> roughly $1 billion in 2006, Sandra<br />

Horbach was quoted by one trade publication as<br />

saying that the company’s brand and its loyal customer<br />

base, said to number 18 million, served as the<br />

company’s high barrier to entry. As it turned out,<br />

however, that outsized customer base, which collectively<br />

received 300 million catalogs a year, became<br />

an albatross when postal rates surged higher<br />

and consumer spending plummeted, especially <strong>for</strong><br />

the discretionary items that make up OTC’s product<br />

lines. As the New York Times reported last year,<br />

about a month ahead of the company’s bankruptcy<br />

filing, Oriental Trading was <strong>for</strong>ced to cut back on<br />

its mailings at a time when consumers were already<br />

inclined to spend less.<br />

One deal pro, speaking generally, identifies the<br />

hole in Carlyle’s thinking. When it comes to identifying<br />

barriers and assessing the value they bring, “it’s<br />

not the market share, per se, it’s what you have to do<br />

to earn the contract,” the source describes.<br />

Indeed, recent research from Morningstar details<br />

the more appealing barriers to entry and also singles<br />

out perceived barriers that don’t necessarily hold up.<br />

High switching costs, <strong>for</strong> instance, represent one<br />

of the more appealing moats Morningstar identified.<br />

This, <strong>for</strong> example, is what helps to separate a company<br />

like SAP from its competitors.<br />

Cost advantages can also be considered a barrier<br />

to entry, but it has to be driven by something that<br />

can’t easily be mimicked. Lean manufacturing or<br />

a replicable sourcing strategy won’t qualify. But the<br />

substantial buying power of a company like Wal-Mart<br />

does, as few competitors can demand the same kinds<br />

of concessions.<br />

Intangible assets represent another barrier, although<br />

at the same time can present a gray area that<br />

makes it difficult to assign value to the moat. A brand,<br />

<strong>for</strong> instance, can provide protection, while a faddish<br />

product can prove to be more dangerous.<br />

Footwear, in particular, is one segment where<br />

these lines often blur. Heelys Inc. saw its stock rise<br />

when its roller skating shoes gained popularity with<br />

kids in 2006 and 2007. The company’s patents, especially<br />

after they held up in court, added another<br />

barrier, which prevented competitors from merely<br />

rolling out knockoffs. Heelys intellectual property<br />

was likely why Skechers showed so much interest<br />

in the company in 2007 and the two years that followed.<br />

Believing that Skechers’ unsolicited offers undervalued<br />

the company, Heelys ultimately decided to<br />

remain independent. As of its most recent earnings<br />

call, in March, Heelys was trading below its cash levels.<br />

Its future is bleak enough that certain investors<br />

were suggesting in what was a brutal earnings call<br />

<strong>for</strong> company management that the company should<br />

consider liquidation.<br />

Buyers will often favor intangible assets centered<br />

around approvals or licenses.Warburg Pincus, <strong>for</strong> instance,<br />

acquired ambulance services company Rural/<br />

Metro in March <strong>for</strong> $438.2 million. The company’s<br />

golden ticket takes the <strong>for</strong>m of certificates required<br />

<strong>for</strong> non-emergency ambulance transportation in certain<br />

counties in Central Florida where the company<br />

operates. The certification positioned Rural/Metro to<br />

<strong>for</strong>ge long-term contracts and arrangements between<br />

municipalities and other companies.<br />

Heather Brilliant, vice president of equity and<br />

credit research at Morningstar, said that she believes<br />

BARRIERS continued on page 46<br />

16 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Outlook<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“ <br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

Almost as soon as AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition<br />

of Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA<br />

division was announced, a cavalcade of negative<br />

sentiment dominated the discourse surrounding<br />

the deal. Even T-Mobile USA CEO and president<br />

Philip Humm conceded in a note to employees that<br />

the transaction was “unexpected and may be somewhat<br />

unsettling.” Perhaps the least surprising critic<br />

to emerge was No. 3 domestic carrier Sprint. While<br />

the transaction will surely receive scrutiny from the<br />

various regulatory agencies, what remains to be seen<br />

is how much of an impact rival carriers can have when<br />

they plant a flag in opposition.<br />

“You have to be careful if you are opposing a deal,”<br />

Dechert partner and antitrust practice co-chair Michael<br />

Weiner cites. “If you complain too much, you<br />

run the risk of changing the perception of regulators,<br />

who may conversely take it to mean that it’s actually<br />

‘pro-competitive.’”<br />

To be sure, AT&T and Deutsche Telekom will<br />

make out nicely should the sale be cleared. The <strong>for</strong>mer,<br />

so long as the deal goes through in its current<br />

incarnation, will add 33.7 million subscribers, giving<br />

the combined company a roughly 42% domestic<br />

market share. The seller, meanwhile, solves its capacity<br />

crunch issues with a sale that ranged from €6.5<br />

billion to €9.3 billion more than analysts thought the<br />

assets could fetch.<br />

The losers, though, are many. Consumers ostensibly<br />

lose an aggressive competitor in T-Mobile; handset<br />

makers, excluding Apple, are faced with a shrinking<br />

pool of buyers; while companies that play into<br />

the mobile infrastructure, whether its network equipment<br />

providers such as Alcatel Lucent and Ericsson<br />

or tower companies like Crown Castle or SBA Communications,<br />

now face a future tied to an increasingly<br />

concentrated customer base.<br />

Yet, among those affected, Sprint, as of the first<br />

week of April, has been the only corporate dissenter<br />

to weigh in on the merger. In a statement released<br />

shortly after the deal, Sprint’s Vonya McCann, senior<br />

vice president of Government Affairs, warned it<br />

would create “a new Ma Bell duopoly.” Sprint further<br />

claimed that the industry, should the deal go through,<br />

would be “overwhelmingly” dominated by the two<br />

vertically integrated companies, AT&T and Verizon,<br />

“with unprecedented control over the US wireless<br />

post-paid market, as well as the availability and price<br />

of key inputs, such as backhaul and access needed by<br />

other wireless companies to compete.”<br />

It seems easy to dismiss Sprint’s objections as sour<br />

grapes. The company, based on earlier Bloomberg reports,<br />

was left at the altar following negotiations to<br />

merge or <strong>for</strong>ge a strategic agreement with T-Mobile.<br />

And whether Sprint’s public dissent holds water with<br />

regulators remains to be seen.<br />

Weiner notes that regardless of who comes out<br />

against a deal, the review from regulators is going to<br />

be “fact based.”<br />

For its part, AT&T outwardly appears pretty confident<br />

that the facts rest on its side. The company<br />

agreed to a reverse termination fee of $3 billion in<br />

cash, and mapped out a commitment to transfer to<br />

Deutsche Telekom certain wireless AWS spectrum<br />

that it doesn’t use as part of its initial LTE rollout.<br />

Moreover, a roaming agreement with DT, “on terms<br />

favorable to both parties,” would also be included in<br />

the event that AT&T can’t complete the acquisition.<br />

Wayne Watts, AT&T’s general counsel and senior<br />

executive vice president, also oozed confidence on the<br />

company’s conference call following the transaction.<br />

When challenged about the remaining market following<br />

the proposed deal -- ostensibly made up of AT&T,<br />

Verizon and Sprint -- Watts responded unequivocally<br />

18 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


that the very premise of the question was off. “The government will<br />

look at this on a local, market-by-market basis and that’s not a conclusion<br />

we’ve just drawn <strong>for</strong> our purposes, that’s the way the government<br />

has looked at transactions -- every wireless transaction that we<br />

and other people in the industry have completed.”<br />

And a local reading, he argues, leaves five or more competitors<br />

fighting <strong>for</strong> customers in 18 of the 20 largest markets, representing<br />

70% of the population. “This is an FCC study, not my analysis,” he<br />

accentuated.<br />

Indeed, when AT&T acquired Cingular in 2004, it had tried to<br />

make a case <strong>for</strong> a national scope in the application of antitrust law.<br />

Rebuffed at the time, the market-by-market analysis favors AT&T’s<br />

current purposes and probably makes it easier to handicap possible<br />

divestitures.<br />

But while the odds do seem stacked against Sprint, at least based<br />

on historic rulings, corporate dissent has worked in the past. When<br />

Comcast subsumed NBC Universal, competitors were largely quiet<br />

at first, although in December, filings with the Federal Communications<br />

Commission revealed that Viacom, Inc. was working behind<br />

the scenes to address its concerns about the merger. The FCC and<br />

the Department of Justice did clear the transaction, although not<br />

be<strong>for</strong>e Comcast made commitments to ensure reasonable access to<br />

its programming <strong>for</strong> multi-channel distribution and also provided<br />

access to its own distribution systems. The company, <strong>for</strong> instance,<br />

agreed to provide 10 new independent channels within eight years<br />

on its digital tier.<br />

If Sprint is going to shape the narrative around the AT&T deal,<br />

Weiner cites that the company’s best bet would be to “plant the<br />

seeds” that the industry’s market should be defined on a national<br />

level and then work through a grass roots campaign that encourages<br />

consumer groups to deliver the message.<br />

Weiner, <strong>for</strong> instance, worked on Google’s planned advertising<br />

deal with Yahoo, which was ultimately abandoned following anti-<br />

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<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 19


LBO Watch<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

Allison Transmission is the latest company looking<br />

to tap the equity market to repay debt.<br />

The Indianapolis manufacturer of transmissions<br />

and other auto parts is planning to raise around<br />

$750 million in an initial public offering. Despite the<br />

perception that an IPO represents a healthy payday<br />

<strong>for</strong> its PE backers, the Allison flotation reflects the<br />

more common trend today in which sponsor-backed<br />

companies channel whatever proceeds they receive<br />

from the IPO to pay down debt.<br />

“Overall, companies are in the mode of deleveraging,”<br />

said Jeff Peskind, chief investment officer with<br />

Phoenix Investment Adviser. “Even though they can<br />

and they have been refinancing debt with longer-dated<br />

maturities, management teams would rather have<br />

less debt on the company than they did pre-crisis.<br />

Their thinking is that less leverage is better.”<br />

Peskind added that private-equity owners of junkrated<br />

companies also face pressure from investors to<br />

return money.<br />

Allison, a <strong>for</strong>mer General Motors division, went<br />

private in 2007 in a $5.575 billion buyout by the<br />

Carlyle Group and Onex. The firms contributed a<br />

combined $1.5 billion in equity to the deal and financed<br />

the rest with debt, made up of a term loan B,<br />

11% senior facility, PIK toggle notes and a revolver. A<br />

total of $3.67 billion of the debt remains today.<br />

Allison’s planned offering follows that of its <strong>for</strong>mer<br />

parent, GM, which raised $23 billion last year. And<br />

observers wouldn’t be surprised if parts manufacturers<br />

Delphi and IAC follow suit.<br />

“The auto-parts sector took advantage of [an open<br />

equity market] in latter 2009, when the sector began<br />

its recovery,” said Timothy Harrod, a vice president<br />

and senior analyst with Moody’s Investors Service.<br />

Other companies in the sector that have completed<br />

successful IPOs include Dana Holdings and TRW<br />

Automotive.<br />

To be sure, the highlight in the IPO market, year<br />

to date, was the March flotation of HCA, which returned<br />

to the public market after a roughly five-year<br />

stay in private equity hands. Its sponsors, Kohlberg<br />

Kravis Roberts, Bain Capital and Merrill Lynch Global<br />

Private Equity did not recoup any of their investment<br />

in through equity offering, which was used to<br />

repay debt.<br />

While it won’t stop the sponsors from cashing in<br />

at a later date, marketwatchers will usually scrutinize<br />

an IPO in which the proceeds don’t go back to the<br />

business or trim debt.<br />

That’s not to say sponsors aren’t taking chips off the<br />

table; there just isn’t the immediate gratification some<br />

might prefer. Amid the flurry of IPOs, March also<br />

saw Italian restaurant chain Bravo Brio and healthcare<br />

marketing company Accretive Health Solutions<br />

-- both private equity backed -- file <strong>for</strong> secondary<br />

offerings. Bravo Brio is looking to raise around $80<br />

million, while Accretive Health is aiming <strong>for</strong> around<br />

$151 million.<br />

But the story remains the inflow of companies that<br />

hope to enter the market while the window remains<br />

open and trim their leverage as much as possible.<br />

GNC, in the last week of March, raised $360 million<br />

in an IPO, while Penthouse publisher Friend-<br />

Finder Networks, also in March, filed <strong>for</strong> its own IPO,<br />

following previous ef<strong>for</strong>ts to do so last year. Heat tracing<br />

equipment maker Thermon also filed to go public<br />

in February, less than a year after Code Hennessy &<br />

Simmons acquired the company.<br />

“This deleveraging theme will continue,” said<br />

Peskind. “Companies that lived through the ’08 crisis<br />

and almost went bankrupt will continue to issue<br />

equity to pay down debt and de-risk their balance<br />

sheets.”<br />

20 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


LBO Watch<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

Few would argue that the balance of power in<br />

the limited partner / general partner relationship<br />

has shifted toward LPs. While limiteds will<br />

always pursue the top quartile, GPs throughout the<br />

market have taken pains to ensure their investors are<br />

getting the attention they demand. In recent months,<br />

a handful of GPs have responded by installing <strong>for</strong>mer<br />

limited partners and institutional investors on their<br />

teams in an investor relations capacity.<br />

Sheryl Schwartz is a senior managing director at<br />

private equity firm Perseus and works on mezzanine<br />

debt investments, private equity investments and IR.<br />

Prior to joining Perseus in 2010, Schwartz was head<br />

of TIAA-CREF’s alternative investment team, where<br />

she reportedly oversaw more than $10 billion of private<br />

equity fund commitments.<br />

If anyone knows best practices, Schwartz would be<br />

a pretty good candidate. “I see the world differently,”<br />

she describes. “There are three of us [at Perseus] who<br />

have been on the LP side and we bring a different<br />

perspective [than] the people who have always been<br />

on the GP side.”<br />

To wit, Schwartz can relate to recent LP demands<br />

<strong>for</strong> more in<strong>for</strong>mation and better details. She debunks a<br />

common misconception on the GP side that limiteds<br />

can be burdened by too much disclosure. “Even if they<br />

can’t get through it all, LPs want to see it,” she cites,<br />

adding that a substantial disconnect exists “between<br />

what LPs want and what GPs think LPs want.”<br />

This, Schwartz says, was a key driver in Perseus’<br />

recruitment. “Even if I don’t know the answer, I can<br />

call one of my relationships and ask their opinion,”<br />

she adds.<br />

And it’s a safe bet too that Perseus didn’t overlook<br />

those relationships either, which undeniably help<br />

open doors.<br />

Perseus isn’t alone. GPs, by and large, are bolstering<br />

their investor relations capabilities amid what has<br />

become a trickier fundraising market. Moreover, the<br />

pay-to-play scandal has incentivized some sponsors,<br />

such as Carlyle Group, to bring their fundraising ef<strong>for</strong>ts<br />

in-house. Institutional investors are also facing<br />

pressure, as capital flows allocated to fund of funds<br />

dries up and as pension systems struggle to attract<br />

Wall Street talent on public service salaries. In turn,<br />

more GPs are bringing <strong>for</strong>mer limited partners on<br />

board, while more LPs are looking <strong>for</strong> such a career<br />

change.<br />

In February, Brazos Equity Partners, a Dallas<br />

based private equity firm, added Patrick O’Hara as a<br />

managing director of investor relations. O’Hara will<br />

lead communication ef<strong>for</strong>ts with current and future<br />

investors and is heavily involved in fundraising activities<br />

<strong>for</strong> the firm. He joined Brazos from the Texas<br />

Employees Retirement System, a $22.5 billion public<br />

pension fund, where he has served as director of private<br />

equity <strong>for</strong> the past three years.<br />

Platinum Equity, which is currently fundraising,<br />

hired Robert Klap earlier this year as a senior executive<br />

in the firm’s London office, where he is involved in<br />

Platinum’s deal origination, investor relations and capital<br />

raising programs. Klap arrives from UBS, where<br />

he managed the private equity fund investments in<br />

the bank’s wealth management group and be<strong>for</strong>e that<br />

put in stints overseeing alternative investments <strong>for</strong> Mn<br />

Services and Shell Asset Management, the roughly<br />

EUR45 billion asset manager that directs investment<br />

activity of the Royal Dutch Shell pension funds.<br />

“Mostly we have seen the transition of LPs to investor<br />

relations and fundraising positions,” observes<br />

Lori Campana, a managing director with placement<br />

agent Monument Group. “It makes sense in today’s<br />

22 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


more challenging fundraising environment to have<br />

someone on the team with that type of experience<br />

and perspective.”<br />

The additions are making a difference. Schwartz’s<br />

input has changed some of the processes at Perseus. For<br />

example, at Schwartz’s suggestion, Perseus has started<br />

doing update calls that include in<strong>for</strong>mation LPs may<br />

have already received in their quarterly reports.<br />

Schwartz, not that far removed from her time at<br />

TIAA CREF, remembers when she would receive<br />

quarterly reports from nearly 300 different GPs. “It’s<br />

better to assume LPs need to be refreshed,” she cites.<br />

“The GP thinks they are the most important investment<br />

the LP has, but there is just so much in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />

LPs need to keep track of.”<br />

Meanwhile, Mark Barnhill, a principal with Platinum<br />

who leads the firm’s capital raising and investor<br />

relations programs, adds that Klap’s appointment<br />

underscores the firm’s commitment to align interests<br />

between the GP and LP. “[It] provides them with a lot<br />

of assurance that we understand their perspective and<br />

the things they need to be successful,” Barnhill says.<br />

Barnhill, however, notes that beyond certain IR<br />

duties, Platinum is counting on Klap to be a presence<br />

in the firm’s European office by “helping drive deal<br />

flow and strategic initiatives.”<br />

It’s another task that plays into the relationships<br />

and awareness of best practices that LPs come<br />

equipped with.<br />

And as the industry deals with the prospect of registration<br />

requirements, it never hurts to have a multitasker<br />

on board.<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 23


Healthcare<br />

Cocktail<br />

Therapy<br />

When <strong>for</strong>mer Teleflex, Inc. chairman and chief executive<br />

Jeff Black spoke at a January JPMorgan Healthcare<br />

Conference, he took pains to convince attendees the<br />

company does indeed belong at a healthcare-focused<br />

symposium. Considering Teleflex had spent the bulk<br />

of its 60-plus-year existence as an automotive parts<br />

supplier, its name is not exactly synonymous with the<br />

medical devices sector. Yet over the past five years, since<br />

its $2 billion acquisition of catheter-based products<br />

maker Arrow International, Teleflex has gradually


Leerink Swann’s<br />

James Boylan<br />

is among those<br />

anticipating<br />

healthcare<br />

dealflow will<br />

continue to<br />

swell, pushed<br />

along by a<br />

set of diverse<br />

drivers<br />

KEN MacFADYEN<br />

Photograph by JohnCalabresePhotography.com


Healthcare<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

morphed into a player in the space. The company essentially<br />

traded up. It turned over its industrial businesses<br />

that sell into other, less-appealing end markets,<br />

all while accumulating healthcare assets with better<br />

margins that play into better demographics. Black’s<br />

extreme makeover was effectively capped off at the<br />

end of January, when Benson Smith -- a veteran in<br />

the devices space -- was installed as the company’s<br />

new CEO.<br />

The enthusiasm drawing dealmakers to the space<br />

can be summed up by the three primary drivers --<br />

demographics, dislocation and deadlines. A fourth,<br />

distress, could also be included, but is specific to certain<br />

segments. It is the aging baby boomer generation,<br />

of course, stimulating the end market growth, while<br />

the pressure on the system and the re<strong>for</strong>m meant as<br />

a remedy are creating the dislocation. The deadlines,<br />

dealmakers already know, is the patent cliff that has<br />

been spurring acquisition activity among the pharmaceutical<br />

giants <strong>for</strong> the past decade. Taken together, it<br />

all translates into a frenzied deal environment attracting<br />

buyers and sellers of all shapes and sizes diving<br />

into the various crosscurrents of opportunity.<br />

“The activity is broad-based,” describes Leerink<br />

Swann’s James Boylan, head of investment banking<br />

at the healthcare-focused boutique. “We continue<br />

to see aggressive and even hostile transactions. We’re<br />

seeing the traditional consolidators, <strong>for</strong>eign buyers,<br />

and new entrants; the bigger companies are looking<br />

to add new technologies and new products, but we’re<br />

also seeing the weaker players fish through the assets<br />

to add scale.”<br />

If one were to quantify the sector’s eminence, the<br />

$51 billion-plus worth of transactions in the first<br />

quarter of the year, according to Thomson Reuters<br />

data, is building up to a pace not seen since 2007,<br />

when the sector completed over 2,100 deals worth a<br />

combined $257.8 billion. The valuations -- anecdotally<br />

exceeding 10x Ebitda in certain segments -- are<br />

also at the high end of historic levels and expected<br />

to climb.<br />

The breadth and velocity of activity in the space<br />

can be difficult to capture. In one 48-hour stretch in<br />

the second week of April, <strong>for</strong> instance, more than 25<br />

deals were either completed or announced. Sanofiaventis<br />

completed its exchange offer <strong>for</strong> Genzyme<br />

Corp., Pfizer sold its Capsugel unit to Kohlberg Kravis<br />

Roberts; Thermo-Fisher Scientific finalized its sales<br />

of Athena Diagnostics and Lancaster Laboratories;<br />

Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo Co. completed the acquisition<br />

of Plexxikon, Inc.; and Health Care REIT wrapped<br />

up its purchase of Genesis HealthCare’s real estate assets.<br />

And these were just the more sizable deals, which<br />

together represented a total value exceeding $25 billion.<br />

In the same 48 hours, Waud Capital expanded<br />

its Acadia Healthcare behavioral health rollup, while<br />

Merck & Co. agreed to acquire opthalmology specialist<br />

Inspire Pharmaceuticals. Also, on the periphery of<br />

the sector, communications company Harris Corp.,<br />

IT and engineering outfit NCI Inc. and packaging<br />

company CCL Industries all cinched new acquisitions<br />

delivering exposure to healthcare.<br />

The deal market may resemble 2007 on paper,<br />

though Boylan sees a few significant differences,<br />

noting that the blockbuster deals have, <strong>for</strong> the most<br />

part, receded into the background. “People are starting<br />

to look through the patent cliffs, largely because<br />

they’re already upon us,” he says. “The analysts have<br />

no choice but to look beyond them and recast.” And<br />

Big Pharma, Boylan adds, is viewing M&A through<br />

a narrower lens. “They’re more focused on specific<br />

M&A strategies, preferring to go after high-quality<br />

science, particularly in the orphan and specialty disease<br />

categories.”<br />

Merck’s acquisition of Inspire Pharmaceuticals reflects<br />

this more granular focus.<br />

Boylan’s career track, in a lot of ways, mirrors the<br />

trend line in healthcare. He spent over 12 years at<br />

Merrill Lynch, where he worked on more than 80<br />

deals, including Celgene’s $2.9 billion acquisition of<br />

Pharmion, Lifecell’s $1.7 billion sale to Kinetic Concepts,<br />

and Pfizer’s $90 billion merger with Warner<br />

Lambert. He moved to healthcare specialist Leerink<br />

Swann in 2009, shortly after Merrill’s sale to Bank of<br />

America. Leerink’s focus on the small and mid-cap<br />

market coincidentally lines up with the current palate<br />

of buyers today, who are largely pursuing growth and<br />

innovation-oriented assets.<br />

When discussing the opportunity in the sector,<br />

<strong>for</strong> many buyers, the conversation usually begins and<br />

ends with re<strong>for</strong>m. The anniversary marking the passing<br />

of the Patient Protection and Af<strong>for</strong>dable Care Act<br />

came in went in March, and many are still trying to<br />

digest the impact and navigate through the moving<br />

pieces of the landmark legislation. That’s not to say<br />

that buyers aren’t cognizant of other drivers or that<br />

the recession-resistent appeal of the industry is any<br />

less of a factor. But many investors are focused on the<br />

26 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


overriding theme of the bill that the system has to become more<br />

efficient.<br />

“We just added 32 million insured people, but re<strong>for</strong>m will not<br />

add a single new doctor; that creates a significant dislocation that will<br />

present a huge opportunity <strong>for</strong> anyone who can solve the problems<br />

that presents,” described Duane Morris partner Mitchell Goldman,<br />

who spoke at the <strong>Association</strong> <strong>for</strong> <strong>Corporate</strong> <strong>Growth</strong>’s Inter<strong>Growth</strong><br />

Conference in March.<br />

Hence, the race <strong>for</strong> innovation Boylan alluded to.<br />

“Demographics are a big part of the story, but I think once<br />

healthcare spending accounts <strong>for</strong> 20% of the GDP, you will see an<br />

urgency to figure out how to better coordinate the delivery and payment<br />

systems,” observes Dechert Partner Susan Hendrickson, who<br />

leads the law firm’s corporate and securities healthcare team.<br />

This isn’t lost on companies like Emdeon,<br />

which recently outlined a plan to trans<strong>for</strong>m into<br />

a healthcare in<strong>for</strong>matics business -- a strategy<br />

meant to pivot the payment cycle management<br />

company so it faces the opportunity in areas such<br />

as payment integrity. Emdeon, in March, detailed<br />

<strong>for</strong> analysts a goal of expanding its analytics<br />

business to represent roughly 30% of its total revenues,<br />

up from five percent last year. It will also<br />

build out its payment services offerings, while<br />

its network and applications businesses make up<br />

less of the targeted product mix. Acquisitions,<br />

of course, are going to be part and parcel to the<br />

strategy. The company is said be currently tracking<br />

over 20 targets across all verticals. Last year,<br />

Emdeon acquired Chamberlin Edmonds, and<br />

sealed a number of other buys that fed into its<br />

provider-based ePayment suite and its denial and<br />

recovery services business. It also added strategic<br />

consulting to its payer solutions business.<br />

The quest <strong>for</strong> efficiency is also driving consolidation<br />

among specialists that allow providers<br />

to outsource services. Providence Equity Partners<br />

backed Virtual Radiologic and soon after added<br />

Nighthawk Radiology to the plat<strong>for</strong>m, creating a<br />

giant in the teleradiology space.<br />

“You’re going to see a lot deals premised on<br />

wrenching inefficiencies out of the system,” Hendrickson<br />

adds, pointing to the wave of REIT<br />

acquisitions, allowing healthcare groups to focus on care delivery,<br />

while monetizing their real estate assets in the process.<br />

While re<strong>for</strong>m presents some low hanging fruit <strong>for</strong> companies and<br />

investors, the industry’s exposure and reliance on state and federal<br />

budgets creates volatility and risk. The fiscal 2012 budget proposal<br />

unveiled by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan in early April probably<br />

put a lump in the throat of some in the sector, as it advanced<br />

the GOP’s goal to remove funding <strong>for</strong> and appeal the healthcare<br />

legislation. The proposed budget also sought to retool Medicaid,<br />

by converting the federal program into capped block grants to state<br />

governments and also floated a 2022 deadline, at which point Medicare<br />

would be transitioned into a voucher program.<br />

If anything, the GOP budget underscores the fiscal constraints<br />

that will keep operators in the sector on their toes. Apria Healthcare’s<br />

Chris Karkenny, an executive vice president and chief financial officer<br />

at the Blackstone Group-owned homecare company, also participated<br />

on the healthcare panel at Inter<strong>Growth</strong>. The conference<br />

occurred be<strong>for</strong>e the GOP’s proposed budget was made public, but<br />

Karkenny still tried to drive home to the audience that changes in<br />

funding can have widespread effects.<br />

“It all trickles down,”<br />

he said. “If the government<br />

takes it out of somewhere,<br />

it’s going to impact<br />

the whole marketplace.<br />

You may not be a Medicare<br />

business, but you’re<br />

kidding yourself if you<br />

don’t think those cuts will<br />

be felt in other areas too.”<br />

Investors longer of<br />

tooth probably remember<br />

the string of bankruptcies<br />

among long-term<br />

care providers following<br />

abrupt changes to Medicare<br />

reimbursement rates<br />

in the late Nineties.<br />

Assuming legislation<br />

stays in place, dealmakers<br />

will still find themselves<br />

spinning their wheels as<br />

lawmakers continue to<br />

iron out the kinks.<br />

Curtis Lane, founder<br />

and senior managing director<br />

of merchant bank<br />

MTS Health Partners,<br />

recites an oft-repeated<br />

warning when it comes to re<strong>for</strong>m ef<strong>for</strong>ts. “There are going to be<br />

unintended consequences,” he insists.<br />

Take the premise that re<strong>for</strong>m will add 32 million insured individuals.<br />

Lane cites that the uninsured aren’t actually <strong>for</strong>ced to buy<br />

coverage until they need to. “People will choose to pay the penalty of<br />

HEALTHCARE continued on page 46<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 27


Inter<strong>Growth</strong> Wrap<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

<br />

third-generation Army veteran, retired<br />

Four-Star General Stanley McChrystal<br />

was among the architects of a warfare<br />

strategy combining intelligence and<br />

operations. The <strong>for</strong>mer commander of<br />

US and international <strong>for</strong>ces in Afghanistan and the<br />

<strong>for</strong>mer leader of the Joint Special Operations Command,<br />

McChrystal built his career on a leadership<br />

strategy focused on full disclosure, teamwork and <strong>for</strong>ward<br />

thinking.<br />

Since his resignation, McChrystal has taken his<br />

leadership skills to JetBlue Airways, where he signed<br />

on as a director last November, and to Yale<br />

University, where he is teaching a seminar on<br />

modern leadership and global affairs.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions caught up with<br />

McChrystal just ahead of Inter<strong>Growth</strong> to discuss<br />

how leadership skills can be applied in a<br />

boardroom setting and also the rapid evolution<br />

of warfare. The following is an edited version<br />

of the discussion.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: Since entering<br />

civilian life, you’ve taken on quite a few<br />

speaking engagements in front of business<br />

leaders. Have you found any common<br />

parallels in running an Army and leading a<br />

business<br />

McChrystal: I certainly wouldn’t sell myself<br />

as a businessman, but I think there are a some<br />

similarities between an Army at war and a business<br />

operating in a competitive environment. I think there<br />

are a number of parallels in terms of the near-term<br />

requirements to be successful in the future. For instance,<br />

you don’t have to show a profit every day or<br />

win every battle, but both organizations share a need<br />

to learn rapidly and respond quickly to change.<br />

There is also a parallel in that you need to have a<br />

long-term strategy in place that prepares you <strong>for</strong> future<br />

success. It’s easy to focus on the near term and<br />

overlook an end goal, but you constantly have to be<br />

developing people and processes in order to prepare<br />

<strong>for</strong> long-term requirements. In the case of an Army<br />

in peace, there are also some parallels. You’ll try to<br />

General Stanley McChrystal<br />

project where your next enemy might be and the nature<br />

of the conflict. I’ve seen Armies in the past guess<br />

pretty badly, and it can put them in a bad position<br />

28 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


during the early part of a conflict. I’d imagine that startups have the<br />

same mentality.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: I was reading some of your thoughts on<br />

leadership, and some key themes that continually come up revolve<br />

around culture, communication and relationships. These<br />

are the components, you say, to creating change. I imagine it’s<br />

no different than in the board room. Can you talk a bit about how<br />

transparency and inclusion can serve the greater good<br />

McChrystal: Really, a culture of inclusion is the key part. If everybody<br />

is included and they take ownership of a mission or ownership<br />

in the success of the enterprise, than they’ll approach it differently<br />

because they’ll feel like they have a stake in it. It starts with treating<br />

people like people and transparency helps do that. Also, the more everybody<br />

understands about the inner workings of a company or situation,<br />

the better they’ll understand how to prepare and address the<br />

challenges at hand. There isn’t anything worse than keeping people<br />

ignorant and then asking them to produce in isolation.<br />

Since 9-11, you’ve had a number of government agencies and<br />

groups working together. Rather than just saying, “This is the mission<br />

of Agency X, and everyone has to support them,” a better approach<br />

is to position it as a joint mission in which the responsibilities<br />

and credit are spread around. If you have an employee who’s just<br />

paid to per<strong>for</strong>m a function, they’re not going to be completely invested<br />

in it and won’t accept the wider mission of the company.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: You recently joined JetBlue’s board of<br />

directors. Any initial thoughts on the processes of corporate decision-making<br />

versus what you may have been used to in the<br />

military<br />

McChrystal: One of the reasons I was happy to join JetBlue is<br />

that there is a culture in place that encapsulates a passion to be different<br />

and better. It’s very powerful and it affects different people in<br />

different ways. As a boardmember, my hope is to bring a perspective<br />

around being mission-focused and help in team building.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: Do you see yourself taking on other ventures<br />

McChrystal: I suspect that I will. I like to challenge myself and<br />

do things that aren’t familiar, but at the same time, I don’t want to do<br />

anything where I’m not adding value. That’s my litmus test.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: You teach a graduate seminar on<br />

modern leadership at the Jackson Institute <strong>for</strong> Global Affairs at<br />

Yale. Considering many of these students will graduate into a<br />

work<strong>for</strong>ce in which they’ll be subordinate to multiple layers of<br />

management, why is it important to understand the concept of<br />

leadership be<strong>for</strong>e you’re in a position to actually lead<br />

McChrystal: You have to have an appreciation <strong>for</strong> it. There is no<br />

<strong>for</strong>mula or set of business processes at the end of the day that dictate<br />

how everything should be done. Being a leader is about the relationships<br />

that you have with people and the ability to motivate and<br />

compromise. Even from the bottom up, employees who understand<br />

the role of leadership and are sensitive to and understanding of how<br />

organizations can become stronger, are going to be able to help make<br />

things happen.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: Any thoughts on the next generation of<br />

leaders that you’ve come across<br />

McChrystal: My first impression was that there is a tremendous<br />

amount of altruism, and an almost total lack of political partisanship.<br />

I’m not necessarily dealing with a huge swath of people, but I<br />

get the sense that they just want to help and don’t care about ‘right’<br />

or ‘left.’ And most seem to have little interest in how wealthy they<br />

become. The whole experience has been extraordinarily positive.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: The title of the class, ‘modern’ leadership<br />

implies that there has been an evolution. Can you talk about<br />

how the idea of leadership has changed over time and where it<br />

has settled today<br />

McChrystal: There clearly has been a change. The enduring principles<br />

of integrity and credibility are timeless, but the environment<br />

has changed. In<strong>for</strong>mation flows so much more broadly and rapidly,<br />

so leaders have to be more reactive in what is probably a more volatile<br />

environment. We’re developing generations that are com<strong>for</strong>table<br />

with this new environment, and people who are able to quickly discount<br />

the chatter that comes from a million blogs and 24-hour television<br />

should be able to succeed. We can push in<strong>for</strong>mation out faster<br />

than we can actually digest it or think about it. It’s something we<br />

have to come to grips with. Leaders who are able to operate in this<br />

kind of environment are better equipped to make sound decisions.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: Part of your role as the Commander<br />

of US and international <strong>for</strong>ces in Afghanistan was to train Afghan<br />

security <strong>for</strong>ces. You also oversaw international <strong>for</strong>ces from<br />

countries ranging from Sweden to Singapore -- 46 countries in<br />

all. I think our readers would view that as the toughest integration<br />

possible. Any advice on how get all the varying cultures and<br />

people on the same page and targeting the same goal<br />

McChrystal: I would point to a couple things. First, you really<br />

McCHRYSTAL continued on page 47<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 29


Inter<strong>Growth</strong> Wrap<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“ <br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

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<br />

<br />

”<br />

est anyone <strong>for</strong>get about the power strategic<br />

buyers wield, AT&T’s $39 billion acquisition<br />

of T-Mobile is an encouraging<br />

reminder. The deal also signaled that after<br />

three years spent largely on the sidelines,<br />

<strong>Corporate</strong> America is finally keen to start chipping<br />

away at its $1.5 trillion cash pile. A panel at ACG’s<br />

40th annual Inter<strong>Growth</strong> conference in San Diego<br />

confirmed that strategic activity is indeed percolating<br />

at all levels of the M&A market, complementing and<br />

augmenting a rebound that initially started to take<br />

shape last summer.<br />

“Every day we’re seeing a major strategic transaction<br />

take place, certainly every Monday,” noted Brian<br />

Brian McDonagh<br />

McDonagh, managing director and co-head of M&A<br />

at Robert W. Baird. He added that “every factor is in<br />

place” <strong>for</strong> strategics to maintain a dominant presence<br />

in the deal market <strong>for</strong> the <strong>for</strong>eseeable future.<br />

Beyond the cash pile sitting on corporate balance<br />

sheets, McDonagh said strategic activity has climbed<br />

as target earnings have become more predictable and<br />

as better assets have returned to the market. Moreover,<br />

organic growth remains elusive, but confidence<br />

in the C-Suite and among corporate boards is still on<br />

the rise, emboldening companies to turn to M&A as<br />

an alternative.<br />

The panel’s moderator, Lazard Middle Market Co-<br />

CEO Michael McFadden, added, “It’s amazing how<br />

much things have changed after just one year.”<br />

The return of the strategics won’t necessarily usher<br />

in a new era of indiscriminate acquisitions -- perhaps<br />

to the disappointment of some sellers. 3M Corp.’s<br />

Mark Copman, a vice president of corporate development<br />

and M&A at the St. Paul, Minn.<br />

company, says that going into every deal,<br />

he’s acutely aware about “what the press release<br />

will look like”<br />

That translates into more due diligence<br />

into how a deal would fit strategically within<br />

the organization and also attention to<br />

whether a transaction would sit right with<br />

shareholders, who he says “are looking <strong>for</strong><br />

earnings growth.”<br />

3M acquired 21 companies last year,<br />

and was among the more active strategic<br />

buyers in the market. Deals included the<br />

$810 million purchase of Arizant, a maker<br />

of specialty blankets; the $943 million<br />

purchase of Cogent Inc., a manufacturer<br />

of fingerprint identification products; and<br />

the $448 million deal to buy precision<br />

grinding technology company Winterthur Technologies<br />

AG.<br />

Copman noted that roughly half of the company’s<br />

acquisitions targeted overseas assets, underscoring<br />

STRATEGIC POWER SHIFT continued on page 47<br />

30 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Inter<strong>Growth</strong> Wrap<br />

<br />

Keith Hennessey, Stan<strong>for</strong>d University Gary Pinkus, McKinsey & Co. Jack Helms, Lazard Middle Market<br />

Andrew Rice, The Jordan Co.<br />

(L-R) Tracy Albert, Houlihan Lokey; Al Melchiorre, MelCap Partners;<br />

Tom Walton, Hanley, Hammill, Thomas; Phil Worden, BofA Merrill Lynch<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 31


Feature<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“ <br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

n early March, Levine Leichtman Capital Partners<br />

held a final close of $225 million <strong>for</strong> a<br />

new fund targeting small-cap companies. The<br />

West Coast firm has never had a problem raising<br />

capital be<strong>for</strong>e. It was launched in 1985 by<br />

the husband and wife team of Lauren Leichtman and<br />

Westwood One vet Arthur Levine, and raised its first<br />

institutional fund in the mid 1990s with a $100 million<br />

commitment from CalPERS, its sole investor at<br />

the time. Today, it currently oversees a $1.1 billion<br />

traditional private equity fund; a distressed debt vehicle<br />

that raised in excess of $375 million in 2006;<br />

and the regionally focused Cali<strong>for</strong>nia <strong>Growth</strong> Fund.<br />

Yet <strong>for</strong> its new vehicle, Levine Leichtman opted to<br />

tap into the government’s coffers and raised an SBIC<br />

fund to complement its other vehicles. As Levine<br />

Leichtman and other new funds suggest, the Small<br />

Business Administration’s SBIC program is no longer<br />

relegated to the dark recesses of the asset class <strong>for</strong><br />

those who can’t raise institutional capital and are content<br />

to jump through hoops <strong>for</strong> funding.<br />

Indeed, at a time when fundraising has significantly<br />

decreased and it’s been harder overall <strong>for</strong> private equity<br />

firms to raise new funds, the SBA has been stepping<br />

up to the plate. The SBA’s growth capital program,<br />

which invests in mezzanine and growth capital, increased<br />

its lending by 23% in fiscal year 2010, providing<br />

a record $1.59 billion to investors backing small<br />

businesses. Last year also saw the highest volume in<br />

the 50 year history of the SBA’s Small Business Investment<br />

Company (SBIC) debenture program.<br />

“The demand from private equity firms <strong>for</strong> this<br />

program is high right now,” cites Sean Greene, an associate<br />

administrator <strong>for</strong> investment and senior adviser<br />

<strong>for</strong> innovation at the SBA. He notes that companies<br />

like Intel, FedEx and Costco all received early<br />

funding from the SBIC program. “It was created to<br />

help capitalize funds that make investments to small<br />

businesses; the government is making the investments<br />

directly.”<br />

As the administration has fended off accusations<br />

that small business was ignored amid the bailouts --<br />

be it the Troubled Asset Relief Program or the Temporary<br />

Liquidity Guarantee Program -- the SBA has<br />

been quietly putting capital to work directly into<br />

small businesses via the SBIC. “It costs the taxpayers<br />

zero and we are expecting the program to continue to<br />

grow in <strong>2011</strong>,” Greene adds.<br />

SBICs are privately-owned and managed investment<br />

firms that are licensed and regulated by the<br />

SBA. SBICs use a combination of funds raised from<br />

traditional limited partners and the SBA to make equity<br />

and mezzanine capital investments in small businesses.<br />

There are currently more than 300 SBICs with<br />

more than $16 billion in capital under management.<br />

(In the 1990s, the SBA has a similar program funding<br />

venture capital investors. However, the program was<br />

losing money and was ultimately shuttered in 2004.)<br />

Beyond Levine Leichtman, many other new faces<br />

have also gravitated to the program. PE shop Perseus<br />

LLC, <strong>for</strong> instance, is also in the midst of raising an<br />

SBIC-backed mezzanine fund. Sheryl Schwartz, a senior<br />

managing director with the firm, was brought on<br />

recently and is currently working with fellow new arrivals<br />

Randall Kutch and Seth Friedman -- both Met<br />

Life veterans -- to launch the new ef<strong>for</strong>t.<br />

“There is demand <strong>for</strong> mezzanine and limited competition<br />

in the lower end of the market, where the<br />

SBICs play,” Schwartz says, noting that the targeted<br />

market is safely out of the reach of the high yield<br />

market. Meanwhile, SBIC incentives allow <strong>for</strong> “private<br />

equity-like returns” <strong>for</strong> the mezz investments,<br />

Schwartz adds, citing that firms can raise up to two<br />

times the amount of capital raised by an SBIC fund<br />

at low interest rates. There is a cap of $150 million,<br />

but even sponsors used to working with larger pools<br />

32 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


of capital are attracted to the prospect of larger returns and more<br />

sizable management fees.<br />

Perseus, on average, writes equity checks of about $50 million.<br />

Its mezz fund, in contrast, will supply companies with about $10<br />

million to $15 million per investment. As part of the SBA guidelines<br />

firms have to invest in companies with a net worth of less than $18<br />

million and an annual income of less than $6 million.<br />

There are a four basic criteria the SBA looks at when deciding<br />

which candidates to back, and in a lot of ways, Uncle Sam can resemble<br />

traditional LPs. To qualify, administrators will scrutinize<br />

an investor group’s track record in analogous investments, certain<br />

benchmarks, its strategy, and the alignment of interests.<br />

Approval from the SBA <strong>for</strong> an SBIC loan took an average of six<br />

months in 2010, significantly less than the 15 months it took <strong>for</strong> approval<br />

in 2009. The efficiency, Greene says, was the result of ef<strong>for</strong>ts<br />

to streamline the process, a factor that has made the program more<br />

popular <strong>for</strong> investors. “We do our due diligence on firms, but we<br />

have worked hard to make the process easier <strong>for</strong> applicants.”<br />

Deerpath Capital Management was among those able to receive<br />

an SBIC license in 2009, albeit 15 months after the firm applied.<br />

Deerpath has deployed more than half of the $250 million raised.<br />

“This was our first SBIC fund and it has served us well,” James<br />

Kirby, president of Deerpath tells Mergers & Acquisitions. “It is important<br />

that the fund’s investment strategy match the requirements<br />

of the SBIC financing.”<br />

Deerpath is just one of many firms that have decided to raise an<br />

SBIC fund. In January <strong>2011</strong>, Alpine Investors, closed Alpine Investors<br />

IV, LP and Alpine Investors IV SBIC, a growth mezzanine<br />

debt and equity fund with $260 million of capital. One third of<br />

Alpine’s $260 million of committed capital comes from the SBIC.<br />

Jeri Harman’s Avante Mezzanine Partners also opted to go the SBIC<br />

route when the firm raised its debut fund.<br />

“Our pipeline is very full,” Greene attests. He isn’t necessarily<br />

SBA continued on page 47<br />

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<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 33


Guest Article<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

hen meeting with a private equity<br />

client recently about a CFO<br />

search, our client asked “How<br />

can a CFO cost this much when<br />

there is 9% unemployment” On<br />

the surface, a legitimate question. The answer: “We<br />

have a resume glut, not a talent glut.” Today’s business<br />

environment relies more than ever on extraordinary<br />

leadership and human capital to manage through the<br />

infinitesimal number of issues that surface every year.<br />

In a world where tensions in the Middle East can<br />

abruptly disrupt the supply, demand and pricing<br />

equation of a barrel of oil, we see<br />

similar pressure building on the<br />

supply, demand and compensation<br />

equation <strong>for</strong> top talent.<br />

We are convinced that change<br />

will come with increasing velocity<br />

and private equity executives<br />

need to keep the dynamics of<br />

the marketplace top of mind to<br />

ensure their portfolio companies<br />

can recruit and retain top talent.<br />

Some trends we are seeing in<br />

our financial executive recruiting<br />

business include an uptick in demand<br />

<strong>for</strong> recruiting services – the<br />

first quarter of <strong>2011</strong> is up 50%<br />

compared with the first quarter<br />

of 2010. In addition, candidates<br />

are taking more calls, listening<br />

to opportunities and going on<br />

more interviews. We talk with candidates every day,<br />

and the interest level of currently employed executives<br />

in pursuing new opportunities is up three times compared<br />

to just six months ago. The grass appears to be<br />

Tom Bonney<br />

getting greener on the other side of the fence.<br />

Finally, the upgrade cycle has started. Many companies<br />

have altered their strategic thinking from the<br />

defensive, cash conservation orientation required<br />

since 2008 to an offensive, growth orientation in<br />

<strong>2011</strong>. However, many incumbent finance executives<br />

are not operationally focused or growth oriented,<br />

which will <strong>for</strong>ce private equity funds to find business<br />

and finance talent with the experience and vision <strong>for</strong><br />

growing a business.<br />

These trends have accelerated since the beginning<br />

of the year, and we believe a number of steps will help<br />

private equity executives retain<br />

and recruit A-level talent <strong>for</strong><br />

portfolio companies in a tightening<br />

market.<br />

For instance, sponsors should<br />

adjust their mindset. Get your<br />

team out of the foxhole and into<br />

the competitive battlefield again<br />

with a revised strategic and operating<br />

plan appropriate <strong>for</strong> the<br />

post-crisis environment.<br />

Buyers also have to ask some<br />

important questions. Who are<br />

the critical players that you<br />

must keep Who are the high<br />

potential employees Eliminate<br />

under-per<strong>for</strong>mers and toxic individuals<br />

– they will drive away<br />

your ‘A’ players. Faster and better<br />

is constantly being redefined,<br />

and you need to move <strong>for</strong>ward with those who will<br />

keep your business at the top and terminate those<br />

who will drag it down.<br />

To help keep in place the top talent, investors<br />

34 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


should re-establish long-term incentives. Ensure that<br />

your long-term compensation plan provides abovemarket<br />

financial opportunity <strong>for</strong> outstanding per<strong>for</strong>mance.<br />

Consider re-pricing existing options or<br />

making additional option grants <strong>for</strong> executives who<br />

fought through the financial crisis and are critical as<br />

you re-focus on growth initiatives.<br />

As part of this, it’s important<br />

to understand what market-rate<br />

pay is <strong>for</strong> the ‘A’ and ‘B +’ players<br />

on your team and ensure you<br />

are at or above market. If not,<br />

someone will remind you what<br />

market compensation is by taking<br />

your talent.<br />

Beyond the compensation,<br />

it’s crucial to pay attention to the<br />

‘little things.’ Many of us had to<br />

cut into the core in 2008 and<br />

2009. Consider what can be restored,<br />

such as the holiday party<br />

and the 401k match.<br />

With a rejuvenated M&A<br />

market, private equity funds<br />

recognize that they may need to<br />

buy a company with “a little hair on it” and make substantive<br />

improvements to achieve desired investment<br />

returns. There are a number of tactics <strong>for</strong> recruiting<br />

and retaining A-level talent. First and <strong>for</strong>emost, buyers<br />

should move quickly to fill vacant slots in the management<br />

team of a newly acquired entity. We believe<br />

that the demand-supply equation <strong>for</strong> talent is shifting<br />

and delaying changes that you need to make now will<br />

put you in a more challenging situation later.<br />

Just as important, don’t let competitors poach<br />

top talent. If you do, you will spend more time later<br />

searching <strong>for</strong> talent from a smaller candidate pool that<br />

will have increased compensation requirements. To<br />

the extent possible, constantly recruit or work with<br />

an executive search service provider who knows their<br />

marketplace very well and can react quickly to unexpected<br />

departures or opportunistic acquisitions of<br />

human capital.<br />

In many cases, buyers should redefine job duties<br />

and specs. Roles today are different from 2007 and<br />

many of our job descriptions and established processes<br />

are being dragged down by inertia from this<br />

earlier time. Cross-functional work is now a major<br />

Kathryn Kehoe<br />

component of every department head’s role and is absolutely<br />

necessary <strong>for</strong> an integrated business model.<br />

Cross-functional orientation, by definition, means<br />

lines are blurred, requiring a high degree of collaboration.<br />

Management teams that understand this will<br />

function at a higher level and win in the competitive<br />

environment.<br />

Finally, take care of your<br />

management team. Ensure that<br />

total compensation is at or above<br />

market <strong>for</strong> your top executives.<br />

Historically, voluntary turnover<br />

spikes after a recession and a<br />

recent Human Capital Institute<br />

survey noted that 35% of people<br />

who are in company leadership<br />

roles would listen to opportunities.<br />

Our recruiters are seeing<br />

empirical evidence in many markets<br />

across the country to this effect.<br />

After several years of limited<br />

transaction volume, private equity<br />

funds are clearly becoming<br />

active sellers of portfolio companies<br />

and buyers of new plat<strong>for</strong>ms.<br />

For deals to succeed, there must be heightened<br />

diligence by both the buyers and sellers. That means<br />

fund executives must focus on the day-to-day details<br />

of potential acquisitions. And fund executives must<br />

adapt to changing times and re-energize human capital<br />

initiatives to ensure that their investments provide<br />

the best possible return to investors. The grass is not<br />

necessarily greener on the other side of the fence, but<br />

greener, where watered.<br />

Tom Bonney, founder and managing director of CMF<br />

Associates, <strong>for</strong>merly led a high-tech advisory, Polaris<br />

Consulting & In<strong>for</strong>mation Technologies, and be<strong>for</strong>e<br />

that worked at Deloitte & Touche in their accounting<br />

and audit practices in Philadelphia and London.<br />

Kathryn Kehoe, a managing director at CMF Associates,<br />

leads the firm’s organizational design and talent<br />

acquisition services. Prior to joining CMF, she was a<br />

senior vice president of US operations and strategy and<br />

a corporate officer at Langer, Inc. Be<strong>for</strong>e that, she served<br />

as a president at HR and organization development advisory<br />

firm Kehoe Associates.<br />

“<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

”<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 35


People<br />

<br />

<br />

<br />

Hiring activity was robust in March, with notable moves in<br />

investment banking and among corporates. Facebook, <strong>for</strong> instance,<br />

recruited Google’s Amin Zoufonoun, leading to speculation<br />

that the company plans to expand on the 10 deals it cinched<br />

last year. Among the investment banks, the defense and government<br />

services space saw the most activity. Morgan Keegan recruited<br />

a Jefferies and Quarterdeck veteran to build out its ef<strong>for</strong>ts<br />

in the segment, while Bluestone Capital Partners, <strong>for</strong>med by <strong>for</strong>mer<br />

Quarterdeck president John Allen and Susan Gabay earlier<br />

this year, also bolstered its staff with two new appointments.<br />

Among the lenders, Monroe Capital topped off its new fund<br />

and recent ef<strong>for</strong>ts to launch a BDC with the recruitment of Moelis<br />

and UBS veteran Warren Woo, who will oversee a Los Angeles<br />

office <strong>for</strong> the Chicago firm.<br />

Advent International— The global PE firm<br />

added some operational muscle in March,<br />

naming Christopher Fraser and Bernard<br />

Bourigeaud to its operating partner program.<br />

Fraser, who’ll focus on the industrial sector,<br />

previously served as president and CEO<br />

of Chemical Lime, and also served in C-Suite<br />

roles at OCI Chemical and Rhone-Poulenc,<br />

among other companies.<br />

Bourigeaud, meanwhile, is best known<br />

<strong>for</strong> launching France-based in<strong>for</strong>mation technology<br />

company Atos Origin. Three years ago,<br />

Bourigeaud was tapped <strong>for</strong> a senior advisory<br />

role by Apax Partners.<br />

Angelo, Gordon & Co.— Mark Visser<br />

has joined the firm’s private equity group as a<br />

managing director and will lead its healthcare<br />

investment activities.<br />

Previously, Visser was a partner at Behrman<br />

Capital, which he joined in 1994. There,<br />

he led the firm’s healthcare investing.<br />

Visser has 20 years of experience in<br />

the healthcare sector, investing in companies<br />

ranging from healthcare services to products.<br />

Earlier in his career, he worked <strong>for</strong> Merrill<br />

Lynch’s investment banking group focusing on<br />

mergers and acquisitions and other corporate<br />

finance transactions.<br />

Barclays Capital— The investment bank<br />

named Josh Connor as head of global transportation<br />

investment banking within the firm’s<br />

global industrials investment banking group.<br />

He will officially join the firm in July and will<br />

be based in New York.<br />

Connor comes from Morgan Stanley,<br />

where he served as a managing director and<br />

head of the transportation and infrastructure<br />

group, and was also a member of the investment<br />

banking management committee and the<br />

board of the Morgan Stanley Foundation.<br />

Bank of America— The firm announced<br />

that Fernando Vicario is the head of corporate<br />

banking <strong>for</strong> emerging markets, excluding<br />

Asia, according to an internal memo obtained<br />

by sister publication IDD Magazine.<br />

The position is a newly-created role and<br />

reflects the firm’s push into emerging markets<br />

–- a commitment alluded to by BofA’s<br />

president of global banking and markets, Tom<br />

Montag, in its investor day. BofA has recently<br />

made strategic agreements with banking firms<br />

in Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Also,<br />

it recently was given a license in Brazil to offer<br />

global treasury solutions to multinationals in<br />

the country.<br />

Vicario originally joined Bank of America<br />

in 1995.<br />

Barnard/Montague Capital Advisors—<br />

The San Francisco-based M&A advisory firm<br />

hired David B. Sloan as a partner.<br />

Sloan arrives from Bancroft Partners, an<br />

investment banking firm he <strong>for</strong>med in 2006 to<br />

focus on West Coast early- to mid-stage companies.<br />

Sloan was previously an executive director<br />

<strong>for</strong> Rabobank, where he concentrated on<br />

agribusiness M&A. Prior to 2004, he spent a<br />

decade and a half with JPMorgan Chase, with<br />

eight years focused on domestic M&A advisory<br />

and seven spent in Hong Kong focused<br />

on M&A in Asia.<br />

BDO Capital Advisors— Dan Shea is<br />

expanding his role at the advisory shop. An<br />

executive in the firm’s BDO Valuation Advisors<br />

subsidiary, Shea will also join BDO Capital<br />

Advisors as a managing director.<br />

His track record includes stops at Hadley<br />

Partners, as a managing director, and WY<br />

Campbell, where he served in the same capacity<br />

and headed the firm’s Los Angeles office.<br />

Shea also held a senior role at Ernst & Young<br />

<strong>Corporate</strong> Finance.<br />

Bluestone Capital Partners — The<br />

McLean, Va.-based investment bank specializing<br />

in middle-market aerospace, defense,<br />

internet technology and professional services<br />

companies, announced the hiring of Chris<br />

Taylor and Mike Ivey as senior vice presidents.<br />

Taylor <strong>for</strong>merly was president of the $250<br />

million technical services business unit of VT<br />

Group Inc., the North American defense and<br />

government services operations of Britain’s<br />

36 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Babcock International Group plc. He previously<br />

served as VT Group’s vice president of<br />

corporate development with responsibility <strong>for</strong><br />

its strategic growth initiatives in the U.S., including<br />

overseeing all merger and acquisition<br />

activity.<br />

Ivey joins Bluestone after serving as a<br />

senior financial executive with leading public<br />

and private equity-backed companies in the<br />

defense and federal services arena. Most recently<br />

he was vice president of finance <strong>for</strong> Net-<br />

Star-1 Inc., a Lake Capital portfolio company<br />

that provides IT and management consulting<br />

services to the federal government.<br />

BMO Capital Markets— The investment<br />

and corporate banking arm of BMO Financial<br />

Group appointed Dirk Leasure and Les<br />

Gorman co-heads of the financial sponsors<br />

group.<br />

Leasure and Gorman will be responsible<br />

<strong>for</strong> overseeing and expanding the existing<br />

group of professionals in New York, Chicago<br />

and San Francisco. They will work out of New<br />

York and report to Perry Hoffmeister, head of<br />

US investment and corporate banking.<br />

Leasure has led BMO’s financial sponsors<br />

group since 2009. Be<strong>for</strong>e joining BMO<br />

Capital Markets in 2002, he spent eight years<br />

with Goldman Sachs, working with financial<br />

sponsors in their leveraged finance group, including<br />

two years leading that group’s ef<strong>for</strong>ts<br />

with financial sponsors in London.<br />

Gorman, meanwhile, joined BMO Capital<br />

Markets in 2010. He previously worked <strong>for</strong><br />

12 years at Lehman Brothers, where he was<br />

a managing director. There, he worked in the<br />

office of the chairman, in the firm’s M&A department<br />

and had responsibilities <strong>for</strong> covering<br />

selected clients in the media and communications<br />

sectors.<br />

The Carlyle Group— The global PE firm<br />

with $97.7 billion of assets under management<br />

established a team to conduct buyout<br />

and growth capital investments in sub-Saharan<br />

Africa. Managing directors Marlon Chigwende<br />

and Danie Jordaan were named as<br />

co-heads of the new ef<strong>for</strong>t. Chigwende was <strong>for</strong>merly<br />

a managing director and head of private<br />

Monroe Capital LLC—<br />

The Chicago lender hired Warren Woo as a partner and managing director,<br />

recruiting the veteran lender from Moelis & Co.,<br />

where he was a founding partner.<br />

Monroe is counting on Woo, who’ll be stationed<br />

in Los Angeles, to lead the firm’s West Coast operations.<br />

Be<strong>for</strong>e Moelis, Woo was vice chairman and<br />

a member of the board of directors at UBS Investment<br />

Bank. He also was the global head of financial<br />

sponsors, hedge funds and leveraged finance at<br />

UBS. Earlier stints included stops at Donaldson,<br />

Lufkin & Jenrette and Drexel Burnham Lambert.<br />

Woo, a part owner of the National Hockey<br />

Warren Woo<br />

League’s Nashville Predators, is joining Monroe as<br />

the firm continues to build out its resources. Monroe<br />

raised a $250 million third party fund earlier this<br />

year and also recently filed to float a business development company. In the filing, the<br />

firm disclosed separate plans to raise an SBIC vehicle.<br />

equity in Africa <strong>for</strong> Standard Chartered Bank,<br />

while Jordaan was an executive committee<br />

member and partner of Ethos Private Equity.<br />

The team also includes managing director<br />

Genevieve Sangudi, most recently a partner<br />

and managing director of Emerging Capital<br />

Partners.<br />

Carlyle’s new team will operate out of offices<br />

in Johannesburg, South Africa, and Lagos,<br />

Nigeria.<br />

Covert & Co.— Kevin Covert, a West<br />

Coast investment banking veteran who cofounded<br />

what is now Montgomery & Co.,<br />

launched his own boutique investment bank.<br />

The eponymous firm will be based in LA.<br />

Covert & Co. currently has 10 employees,<br />

full and part time. By yearend, its founder<br />

expects to have 15 to 20 workers, as well as<br />

offices in the Bay Area and on the East Coast.<br />

Covert, along with Jamie Montgomery<br />

and others, founded Digital Coast Partners in<br />

1999 in Santa Monica, Calif. When it changed<br />

its name to Montgomery & Co. in 2003, Covert<br />

took charge of its technology and media-<br />

Internet groups. He left Montgomery in 2009.<br />

Covert, in his career, also had stops<br />

at Credit Suisse First Boston and Salomon<br />

Brothers.<br />

Among the early hires, Michael<br />

Metzger came aboard as a principal. Metzger<br />

arrived from New Century Capital Partners,<br />

where he was a vice president.<br />

Duff & Phelps Corp.— The advisory firm<br />

named Jacob Silverman leader of its investment<br />

banking segment. Silverman will continue<br />

to oversee corporate development <strong>for</strong> the<br />

company and will remain on the advisory firm’s<br />

executive committee. Patrick Puzzuoli, now<br />

managing director of finance, succeeds Silverman<br />

as executive vice president and chief<br />

financial officer.<br />

Michael Cochrane, who preceded<br />

Silverman as segment leader <strong>for</strong> investment<br />

banking, has decided to leave the company to<br />

pursue other interests, the firm said.<br />

Silverman joined Duff & Phelps in March<br />

2004, when he worked with Noah Gottdiener<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 37


People<br />

to acquire the firm. Previously, he worked <strong>for</strong><br />

Stone Ridge Partners LLC, a mergers and acquisitions<br />

advisory firm focused on middlemarket<br />

companies.<br />

Earlier posts <strong>for</strong> Silverman included stints<br />

as the VP of finance <strong>for</strong> enterprise software<br />

concern Atomica Corp., and stops at investment<br />

bank Furman Selz and investment firm<br />

Oak Hill Advisors.<br />

Puzzuoli, meanwhile, has been affiliated<br />

with Duff & Phelps and its predecessor firms<br />

<strong>for</strong> more than seven years, having joined the<br />

firm from Jupiter Media Metrix.<br />

Evercore Partners— Eric Mandl has<br />

agreed to join the firm as a senior managing<br />

director.<br />

Mandl, 36, will work in New York and will<br />

focus on advising companies in the large-cap<br />

technology and software and Internet sectors.<br />

Mandl was most recently global head of<br />

software and enterprise banking at UBS. With<br />

nearly 15 years of experience, Mandl has advised<br />

on deals involving IBM, Hewlett-Packard,<br />

Apple, Dell, Citrix, Symantec, Microsoft<br />

and others.<br />

Facebook— News of Amin Zoufonoun<br />

leaving his post at Google Inc. had the tech<br />

world buzzing in March. A catalyst behind<br />

Google’s buying spree in recent years, Zoufonoun<br />

joined the company in 2003.<br />

Zoufonoun has a law degree from Santa<br />

Clara University and previously served as corporate<br />

counsel at ArrayComm LLC.<br />

At Facebook, he will report to Vaughan<br />

Smith, who currently heads Facebook’s corporate<br />

development ef<strong>for</strong>ts. The company<br />

has ramped up its M&A activities, acquiring<br />

10 companies last year, including New Yorkbased<br />

HotPotato, among others.<br />

Greentech Capital Advisors— The firm<br />

hired mergers and acquisitions executive Damien<br />

Sauer as partner.<br />

Sauer previously headed M&A at the<br />

French nuclear group Areva. At Greentech<br />

Capital he will provide M&A and strategic advisory<br />

services to sector-leading companies,<br />

as well as raise expansion capital <strong>for</strong> private<br />

companies and project developers. He will<br />

work alongside Olav Junttila, also a partner,<br />

and a team of investment bankers.<br />

HSN, Inc.— The multi-channel retailer<br />

named Mitchell Hara as a senior vice president<br />

of corporate strategy and M&A. The newly<br />

created position reports to chief financial officer<br />

Judy Schmeling.<br />

Hara joins the Nasdaq-listed company<br />

from Peter J. Solomon Co., where he was a<br />

managing director. He previously led Citigroup’s<br />

specialty retail practice and also put in<br />

stints with Merrill Lynch & Co., Wasserstein<br />

Perella & Co. and Citibank, NA.<br />

Janney Capital Markets— The Philadelphia-based<br />

brokerage unit of Penn Mutual Life<br />

Insurance named Christopher White as the<br />

new head of its investment banking division.<br />

White arrives from Cowen Group, where he<br />

was most recently the chief operating officer.<br />

He is replacing Andrew Smucker, who is<br />

staying on at the firm as a managing director.<br />

White’s appointment comes as the firm is<br />

looking to build out its middle-market M&A<br />

and sponsor coverage.<br />

White, a Salomon Smith Barney vet, originally<br />

joined Cowen in 1999, soon after Societe<br />

Generale acquired the firm to <strong>for</strong>m SG Cowen<br />

Securities Corp. Throughout his tenure, White<br />

held a number of different positions be<strong>for</strong>e<br />

moving on to become COO, where he oversaw<br />

the spinout of Cowen as a public company in<br />

2006. More recently, he oversaw Cowen’s sale<br />

to Ramius LLC in late 2009.<br />

A spokeswoman <strong>for</strong> Cowen disclosed<br />

that John Holmes will take over <strong>for</strong> White at<br />

the New York-based investment bank.<br />

Lazard— Senior London-based banker Ken<br />

Costa has left the firm, a spokesman acknowledged<br />

in late March without elaborating.<br />

Costa, 62, is a 30-year City of London<br />

veteran. He was chairman of Lazard International,<br />

hired by Lazard’s chief executive at the<br />

time, the late Bruce Wasserstein. In one<br />

of Costa’s most noteworthy deals, he advised<br />

Mohamed al-Fayed on his sale of London department<br />

store Harrods to Qatar Holding <strong>for</strong> £2<br />

billion ($3.2 billion).<br />

A native of South Africa, Costa was previously<br />

vice-chairman at UBS Investment Bank.<br />

Separately, Lazard, earlier in March,<br />

brought on Yan Lan as a managing director<br />

and head of Greater China investment banking.<br />

Ms. Yan was <strong>for</strong>merly a partner in charge<br />

of Gide Loyrette Nouel’s Beijing office.<br />

L2 Capital Partners— Bob Levine<br />

launched the new private equity firm to target<br />

manufacturing, distribution and services deals<br />

in the small market. Levine recently left Milestone<br />

Partners, where he was a co-founder.<br />

According to a press release, L2 will look<br />

to write equity checks of as much as $10 million<br />

and will target transactions $10 million to<br />

$20 million in size.<br />

The firm, which has in excess of $50 million<br />

available at its disposal, notched its first<br />

deal in March when it acquired Landfill Service<br />

Corp. in an undisclosed deal.<br />

Moelis & Co.— Nick Saggese has<br />

joined the firm as a Los Angeles-based senior<br />

adviser, the firm announced in March.<br />

Saggese joins Moelis after more than 25 years<br />

with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom<br />

LLP, where he most recently was a partner and<br />

co-head of the law firm’s private equity practice.<br />

He represented clients in such corporate<br />

transactions as private equity, mergers and<br />

acquisitions, recapitalizations, securities offerings<br />

and corporate restructurings.<br />

Morgan Keegan & Co.— The Memphis<br />

investment bank named Dan Cornell as a<br />

managing director. The Jefferies & Co. veteran<br />

is joining Morgan Keegan’s security and<br />

defense investment banking group, where he<br />

will initiate its coverage in the aerospace and<br />

government services sectors.<br />

Morgan Keegan’s parent, Regions Financial,<br />

also <strong>for</strong>med a technology and defense<br />

banking group, tapping David Sozio to lead<br />

the new ef<strong>for</strong>t, which will focus on debt capital<br />

solutions.<br />

38 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


Cornell previously headed Jefferies’<br />

Washington, DC office. He previously put in<br />

stints with Quarterdeck Investment Partners,<br />

Legg Mason and Stifel Nicolaus.<br />

MorrisAnderson— The Chicago consultancy<br />

named Edward Bidanset, III, as a<br />

managing director at the firm. A 2008 hire,<br />

Bidanset is expected to help grow the firm’s<br />

Atlanta office, where he will manage client relationships.<br />

Bidanset, prior to joining MorrisAnderson,<br />

was a consultant and principal with crisis<br />

management firm CE Inc. and previously<br />

served in executive roles at Middle Atlantic<br />

Products, Scott Printing Corp. and Cardiovascular<br />

Diagnostics, among other companies.<br />

Nomura— The firm’s head of US investment<br />

banking, Glenn Schiffman, has left the firm<br />

after one year on the job, according to a person<br />

familiar with the matter.<br />

His departure was disclosed in an internal<br />

memo that was circulated by the company<br />

and obtained by sister publication Investment<br />

Dealers’ Digest.<br />

A spokesman <strong>for</strong> Nomura declined to<br />

comment.<br />

James DeNaut, who joined Nomura<br />

last August from Deutsche Bank, has replaced<br />

Schiffman, according to the person familiar<br />

with the matter.<br />

Schiffman came to Nomura through the<br />

Japanese bank’s acquisition of the overseas<br />

businesses of Lehman Brothers. Prior to becoming<br />

head of US investment banking, he<br />

was head of investment banking in the Asia-<br />

Pacific region.<br />

Piper Jaffray— The Minneapolis investment<br />

bank named Marc Steifman as a managing<br />

director and head of its West Coast tech<br />

group. Steifman, most recently a managing<br />

director with Jefferies, will join the firm in late<br />

June and be based in San Francisco.<br />

Prior to signing on with Jefferies, Steifman<br />

had stops at Bear Stearns and Prudential<br />

Securities. His focus, <strong>for</strong> the past 16 years, has<br />

primarily concentrated on the electronics and<br />

hardware sector.<br />

Robert W. Baird & Co.— The mid-market<br />

bank named Vinay Ghai as a managing director<br />

in its i-banking team in London, as part of<br />

the firm’s continued expansion in Europe.<br />

He joins Baird from the corporate finance<br />

adviser Hawkpoint. He will work alongside<br />

managing director Nick Sealy and work in the<br />

consumer and industrial sectors.<br />

Ghai spent eight years in the Hawkpoint<br />

corporate advisory team, focusing on the consumer,<br />

leisure, health care and industrial sectors.<br />

Previously he was vice president <strong>for</strong> European<br />

M&A at Goldman.<br />

Earlier he was a senior associate <strong>for</strong> European<br />

mergers and acquisitions at Deutsche<br />

Bank.<br />

TA Associates— The Boston growth and<br />

private equity investor named Patrick Sader<br />

as a senior vice president in London.<br />

Sader arrives from Argan Capital Advisors<br />

and also put in a stint with Terra Firma<br />

Capital Advisors. According to a statement,<br />

Sader will concentrate on growth companies<br />

on the continent with an emphasis on Frenchspeaking<br />

regions.<br />

Temasek Holdings— The Singapore investment<br />

giant named Ding Wei as the head<br />

of its China investment team.<br />

Wei was <strong>for</strong>merly the head at China International<br />

Capital Corp. He is reportedly replacing<br />

Gan Chee Yen, who will stay on with<br />

Temasek as a senior managing director covering<br />

special projects.<br />

Tiger Group— The advisory valuation and<br />

disposition firm brought in Billy Weinstein<br />

and Mark Stein to bolster its Boston office.<br />

Both were founding partners of the Ozer Group<br />

and also spent time at Gordon Brothers.<br />

The firm also announced the acquisition<br />

of The Daley-Hodkin Group, a Melville,<br />

NY-based appraiser of machinery and equipment<br />

and a fully integrated asset disposition<br />

services firm. Joseph Hodkin will retire, while<br />

Morris Hodkin, who serves as president of<br />

Daley-Hodkin, will spearhead the integration.<br />

Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co.— The energy-focused<br />

investment and merchant banking<br />

firm named John Rice and George Ward<br />

as heads of the new power and utility group.<br />

The pair arrived from Berenson & Co., and will<br />

be joined by fellow Berenson vets Dave Saxena,<br />

Director, Ed Tirello, Senior Advisor and<br />

Jonathan Sherman, Associate.<br />

Rice, prior to joining Berenson, was the<br />

head of the energy investment banking group<br />

at Credit Lyonnais Securities. Be<strong>for</strong>e that, he<br />

was in the energy group of Credit Suisse First<br />

Boston and its predecessor firm, Donaldson,<br />

Lufkin & Jenrette. Ward, meanwhile, spent<br />

time at Credit Suisse and CIBC Oppenheimer<br />

be<strong>for</strong>e joining Berenson.<br />

The new team will be based in Todor,<br />

Pickering’s New York office.<br />

UBS— Jeffrey Berson has joined investment<br />

bank as a managing director in its technology,<br />

media and telecommunications group,<br />

according to an internal memo sister publication<br />

IDD obtained. He will work in New York<br />

and report to Aryeh Bourkoff, who was recently<br />

appointed head of investment banking in the<br />

Americas. Berson joins the firm from Oppenheimer<br />

& Co., where he was global head of<br />

communications. Be<strong>for</strong>e working at Oppenheimer<br />

he spent 14 years covering technology<br />

and telecommunications at CIBC and Barclays<br />

Capital.<br />

Warburg Pincus— The PE firm bolstered its<br />

tech and media segment, bringing on Andrew<br />

Prozes as a senior advisor. Prozes was previously<br />

the CEO of LexisNexis Group.<br />

Wynnchurch Capital— The private equity<br />

firm promoted Michael Teplitsky to vice<br />

president in March.<br />

Based in Wynnchurch’s Chicago office,<br />

Teplitsky joined the firm in 2008. Earlier stints<br />

<strong>for</strong> Teplitsky included stops at energy-focused<br />

PE shop Lime Rock Partners and investment<br />

bank UBS.<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 39


THE PULSE<br />

Lessons Learned<br />

With Inter<strong>Growth</strong> <strong>2011</strong> now in the rearview, attendees share their key takeaways<br />

The breakout sessions were excellent.<br />

It is always great to learn how your peers<br />

and your market<br />

conduct business.<br />

We get better every<br />

year. As far as<br />

networking goes,<br />

after a dozen or<br />

so Intergrowths, I<br />

have learned that<br />

the first year you<br />

are a rookie, the<br />

Terry Fick<br />

second year you<br />

are a player, and<br />

after that you are a<br />

member of the “Club.”<br />

—Terry Fick, managing director,<br />

Westlake Securities, ACG Dallas/Fort Worth<br />

My biggest take away from the conference<br />

came at lunch with Stanley McChrystal.<br />

Stanley was a senior at West Point when I<br />

was a freshman. Although I did not know him<br />

personally, I was impressed after meeting<br />

him at Intergrowth. My sense of his leadership<br />

style is one of inclusion. His comments<br />

at lunch inspired me to continue my own similar<br />

path of leadership in deals. For example,<br />

in getting any deal completed, the management<br />

of the company must be enrolled in<br />

the transaction (whether selling a company<br />

or raising capital). One of the best ways to<br />

make that happen is including them in all<br />

aspects of the process. One risks exposing<br />

“how sausage is made,” but in the end I think<br />

it makes deals happen.<br />

—J.B. Dollison, managing director,<br />

Crutchfield Capital Corporation, ACG Houston<br />

Bring plenty of business cards and don’t<br />

<strong>for</strong>get to visit the Gaslamp District with<br />

friends and ACG acquaintances. Priceless.<br />

—Steve Cohen,<br />

Devine, Millimet & Branch, ACG Boston<br />

I have been involved with ACG <strong>for</strong> more<br />

than a decade and have attended seven Inter-<br />

<strong>Growth</strong>s and witnessed<br />

its steady<br />

evolution into the<br />

most important<br />

middle market<br />

dealmaking event.<br />

The beauty of Inter<strong>Growth</strong><br />

is that<br />

it offers something<br />

<strong>for</strong> everyone, from<br />

fascinating keynotes,<br />

to useful<br />

Bill Haynes<br />

breakout sessions,<br />

to a wealth of networking opportunities. With<br />

so many opportunities <strong>for</strong> learning, socializing<br />

and business development, the most difficult<br />

thing is to decide how to spend your time.<br />

The most valuable lesson I have learned<br />

about making the most of the Inter<strong>Growth</strong><br />

experience is to reach out to attendees in<br />

advance of the event and schedule meetings<br />

throughout the conference. Being an exhibitor<br />

is certainly helpful <strong>for</strong> meeting people circulating<br />

through the attendee lounge. Likewise,<br />

cycling through the hubbub of Capital Connection<br />

is a nice way to catch up with private<br />

equity clients and acquaintances. However, a<br />

targeted, personal pre-conference outreach<br />

to current clients, friends, potential clients<br />

and partners, is an important step <strong>for</strong> a successful<br />

event. At the most recent Inter<strong>Growth</strong>,<br />

BackBay Communications arranged a dozen<br />

meetings in advance. Most were only 20-30<br />

minutes, but that was enough time to gather<br />

key in<strong>for</strong>mation about potential clients’ business<br />

goals and needs and to follow up with<br />

some ideas after the event.<br />

Scheduled meetings are an important<br />

and efficient way to approach Inter<strong>Growth</strong>.<br />

It is also important, however, to leave time<br />

<strong>for</strong> spontaneous get-togethers. Inter<strong>Growth</strong><br />

attendees have an amazing web of connections,<br />

and I’ve deepened current relationships<br />

and <strong>for</strong>ged new ones through impromptu introductions<br />

over a beer in the hotel bar.<br />

—Bill Haynes, president,<br />

BackBay Communications, ACG Boston<br />

Attending my first ACG Intergrowth meeting<br />

was eye opening. As the President of the<br />

Orlando Chapter I<br />

thought it would<br />

be beneficial to<br />

learn how and why<br />

some of the largest<br />

ACG chapters<br />

are so successful. I<br />

walked away from<br />

the week with<br />

new ideas <strong>for</strong> our<br />

Steve Castino<br />

chapter, many new<br />

relationships in the<br />

private equity field<br />

and I also had the opportunity to hear two<br />

extremely inspirational and accomplished<br />

speakers in Jim Collins and Stanley McChrystal.<br />

—Steve Castino, shareholder, executive<br />

committee, Vestal & Wiler CPAs, ACG Orlando<br />

40 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


THE PULSE<br />

This was my first ACG-Intergrowth Conference<br />

of my career, and the two biggest takeaways<br />

were (1) old relationships; and (2) new<br />

relationships.<br />

As <strong>for</strong> old relationships, I’ve worked at<br />

several firms on Wall Street over the years.<br />

It was really terrific to see <strong>for</strong>mer colleagues<br />

(most of whom had also moved on to other<br />

firms) who I hadn’t seen in years, as well as<br />

current and <strong>for</strong>mer private equity clients. I<br />

seemed to run into an old friend every few<br />

feet in the hotel. It was gratifying to compare<br />

notes on the last few years, and how we had<br />

all survived and intend to reconnect more often<br />

in the future.<br />

As <strong>for</strong> new relationships, I met several<br />

new corporate and private equity clients with<br />

whom I plan to meet in the near future, possibly<br />

<strong>for</strong> a live advisory assignment. A couple<br />

approached me after I spoke on a panel, and<br />

asked if we could talk. These potential leads<br />

are very valuable, and something I did not expect<br />

from ACG-Intergrowth. Terrific!<br />

—Randal Stephenson, managing director,<br />

investment banking, Duff & Phelps<br />

Securities, LLC<br />

The lessons learned are many. Plywood<br />

leadership, <strong>for</strong> example, glues average people<br />

together by true leadership. Also, what sets<br />

successful growth companies apart from mediocre<br />

companies is the humility of the management<br />

team and a ‘never give up’ mentality. And<br />

the key factors that differentiate a great company<br />

from a mediocre company are an ability to<br />

put the right people in the right positions and<br />

disciplined growth. (It’s better to grow by 10%<br />

to 20% per year <strong>for</strong> 20 years than witness extreme<br />

spikes either way.) Finally, demographic<br />

changes will influence the world.<br />

—Titus Schurink, CFO,<br />

Holland Private Equity, ACG Holland<br />

Appreciated having sessions on familyowned<br />

businesses, a market segment overlooked<br />

in the past, but very important, with<br />

their own set of expectations, needs, goals,<br />

etc. Also, the three keynoters were awesome,<br />

each in their own right.<br />

—Mike Trueblood, director,<br />

Family Business Council, Mihaylo College of<br />

Business and Economics, Cal State Fullerton<br />

On The Agenda<br />

<strong>May</strong> 3<br />

ACG New York - Emerging Markets Conference<br />

ACG Vancouver - Capital Connection <strong>2011</strong><br />

<strong>May</strong> 5<br />

ACG Detroit - 3rd Annual Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament<br />

ACG National Capital - <strong>2011</strong> <strong>Corporate</strong> <strong>Growth</strong> Awards Gala<br />

<strong>May</strong> 6<br />

ACG Richmond - Breakfast Series: Higher Ed Panel<br />

<strong>May</strong> 10<br />

ACG Arizona - Breakfast Series: Featuring Mike & Jamie Entzminger<br />

ACG Kentucky - Breakfast Series: Featuring James P. Campbell<br />

ACG Philadelphia - Networking & Wine Tasting Event<br />

<strong>May</strong> 11<br />

ACG St. Louis - Mid-America <strong>Corporate</strong> <strong>Growth</strong> Conference<br />

<strong>May</strong> 12<br />

ACG Silicon Valley - Tim Guertin, CEO, Varian Medical<br />

ACG Boston - Cupcakes and Cocktails with the Women’s Executive<br />

Forum<br />

ACG Silicon Valley - Tim Guertin, CEO, Varian Medical<br />

<strong>May</strong> 13<br />

ACG National Capital - John Rizzo, <strong>for</strong>mer General Counsel, CIA<br />

<strong>May</strong> 17<br />

ACG New York - 7th Annual M&A DealSource & ACG Capital<br />

Connection ®<br />

ACG Chicago - Winners Emerge: The Future of Private Equity<br />

ACG San Diego - Distressed M&A: Using 2nd Lien Financing as<br />

Risk Mitigation<br />

ACG Atlanta - ACG Golf Tournament<br />

<strong>May</strong> 18<br />

ACG Western Michigan - Agony to Ecstasy: No Sales to Equity Sale<br />

ACG Holland - Luncheon meeting<br />

<strong>May</strong> 19<br />

ACG Philadelphia - Breakfast Series: Middle Market Lenders Panel<br />

ACG National Capital - Greater D.C. Executive Women’s Event<br />

ACG Boston - Breakfast Series: Sam Kennedy of the Boston Red Sox<br />

<strong>May</strong> 24<br />

ACG National Capital - Seminar Series: The Sale of a Closely Held<br />

Business<br />

ACG Denver - <strong>Corporate</strong> Executive Series: Margaret Heffernan<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 41


COMMUNITY COMMENTARY<br />

Reading Washington<br />

TheWadeGroup’s Robert W. Stewart discusses the regulatory issues in Washington that may<br />

keeping mid-market dealmakers up at night<br />

Robert W. Stewart<br />

While attention in Washington is<br />

riveted on critical budget talks,<br />

military action abroad and the<br />

unfolding nuclear nightmare in Japan, federal<br />

legislators and regulators are quietly considering<br />

several major policy initiatives that<br />

could have a profound effect on the private<br />

equity industry, especially on mid-market<br />

firms.<br />

The most significant policy issues facing<br />

mid-market firms this year – and beyond – fall<br />

into three broad categories:<br />

1. Regulatory issues stemming from the<br />

Dodd-Frank Act enacted last year;<br />

2. Tax issues related to the likely overhaul<br />

of the U.S. corporate tax code in the next<br />

two to three years;<br />

3. Accounting issues stemming from the<br />

Fair Value Measurement proceedings<br />

underway at the Financial Accounting<br />

Standards Board, or FASB.<br />

Dodd-Frank<br />

The most immediate threat facing the<br />

mid-market private equity community is the<br />

proposal by the Securities and Exchange<br />

Commission (mandated by the Dodd-Frank<br />

Act) to require registration and financial reporting<br />

under the Investment Advisers Act<br />

of 1940. The requirement would apply to<br />

advisers to private equity, hedge and liquidity<br />

funds (but not venture capital funds) who<br />

have $150 million or more in assets under<br />

management.<br />

Under the proposed rule, these asset managers<br />

would be required to register with the<br />

SEC and complete Form ADV, which includes<br />

extensive compliance requirements (production<br />

of compliance manuals, employee training,<br />

etc.). Covered investment advisers would<br />

have to file their first Form ADV by July. In<br />

addition, they would be required to annually<br />

complete a new <strong>for</strong>m, Form PF, that would<br />

compel them to provide monthly and quarterly<br />

reports on the net asset value and per<strong>for</strong>mance<br />

of each fund under management. The<br />

first such report would be due no earlier than<br />

March 31, 2012.<br />

Members of the private equity community<br />

who have studied the proposals believe they<br />

will impose significant burdens on mid-market<br />

firms without achieving their stated purpose<br />

– to identify and limit risks to the U.S.<br />

economy and financial system. Some believe<br />

the substance of these rules reflects a lack of<br />

understanding of the private equity business<br />

model among some regulators.<br />

Responding to that criticism, Rep. Robert<br />

Hurt (R-VA) recently introduced legislation<br />

that would rescind the Dodd-Frank requirement<br />

reporting and registration requirement<br />

<strong>for</strong> all private equity fund advisers. The bill,<br />

which has picked up some Democratic support,<br />

is expected to be reported out of the<br />

House Financial Services Committee in early<br />

<strong>May</strong> and is likely to be approved by the full<br />

House. The bill’s prospects in the Senate remain<br />

uncertain.<br />

Critics argue that determining monthly<br />

and quarterly per<strong>for</strong>mance <strong>for</strong> private equity<br />

funds, which by their nature involve investments<br />

in largely illiquid assets, would cause<br />

a severe financial burden on private equity<br />

firms of all sizes, but especially on smaller<br />

firms. In practice, the rule would require each<br />

firm to value on a monthly basis each company<br />

in which their funds invest, using a variety<br />

of valuation methods sanctioned by the<br />

Financial Accounting Standards Board.<br />

Some in the industry believe that legal<br />

counsel would insist on hiring outside accountants<br />

to certify the legitimacy of the<br />

valuation and the valuation methodology.<br />

For even a small firm, the expense of providing<br />

these monthly fund per<strong>for</strong>mance reports<br />

reasonably could reach $500,000 or more. For<br />

larger firms, the cost could top $1 million, according<br />

to estimates.<br />

In addition to the reporting issues raised<br />

by Form PF, certain requirements contained in<br />

Form ADV have drawn criticism<br />

Among these issues are:<br />

Third-party custody of securities – Part<br />

2 of Form ADV requires firms to store their<br />

securities with a third-party “qualified custodian.”<br />

However, securities in companies in<br />

which private equity firms invest are private<br />

and unlisted and cannot be traded in public<br />

markets. Many believe that it makes no sense<br />

to require that they be held in custody by third<br />

parties at considerable expense.<br />

Compliance and disclosure to investors<br />

– Part 2 of Form ADV also contains extensive<br />

compliance and disclosure requirements, including<br />

creation and adoption of a code of<br />

ethics, that will be costly to carry out and<br />

which do not enhance or improve upon any<br />

42 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


COMMUNITY COMMENTARY<br />

of the disclosures required in Limited Partner<br />

Agreements.<br />

Trading practices – Critics argue that<br />

requirements regarding trading practices,<br />

including procedures by which the adviser<br />

satisfies its best execution obligation and<br />

allocates aggregated trades among clients,<br />

make no sense <strong>for</strong> private equity firms that<br />

do not trade any public securities <strong>for</strong> their clients’<br />

accounts.<br />

Restrictions on proprietary trading – Others<br />

point out that Requirements regarding<br />

proprietary trading by the adviser and the<br />

personal trading activities of the people the<br />

adviser supervises have no bearing on private<br />

equity firms, which do not engage in trading<br />

public securities <strong>for</strong> clients.<br />

Portfolio management processes – Portfolio<br />

management processes, including allocation<br />

of investment opportunities among clients<br />

and consistency of portfolio investments<br />

with clients’ investment objectives, make<br />

little sense <strong>for</strong> private equity firms, opponents<br />

say, as these issues are all covered by Limited<br />

Partner Agreements.<br />

The SEC also has proposed a new rule<br />

that would apply to all investment advisers<br />

with AUM of $1 billion or more that would<br />

institute a new reporting regime related to<br />

incentive-based compensation, which many<br />

believe would include carried interest.<br />

Tax Issues<br />

Equally important is the major tax re<strong>for</strong>m<br />

debate that has already begun – and that may<br />

result in sweeping tax legislation being enacted<br />

by Congress in 2012 or 2013. The two<br />

issues of most importance relate to the tax<br />

treatment of partnerships and other so-called<br />

“pass-through” entities and the deductibility<br />

of interest on loans used to finance portfolio<br />

company acquisitions.<br />

Both President Obama and Treasury Secretary<br />

Geithner are on record as favoring a<br />

decrease in the nominal corporate income tax<br />

rate, which currently stands at 35 percent.<br />

However, both have said that any ef<strong>for</strong>t to reduce<br />

the corporate tax rate should be revenue<br />

neutral, suggesting that Congress’ tax writers<br />

will have to find offsetting revenue to make<br />

up <strong>for</strong> that lost from lowering the overall corporate<br />

rate.<br />

Geithner said as recently as April 5 that<br />

the Administration is preparing a comprehensive<br />

proposal <strong>for</strong> corporate tax re<strong>for</strong>m in an<br />

ef<strong>for</strong>t to kickstart the legislative process in<br />

Congress. According to Reuters, “Given the<br />

country’s fiscal challenges, Geithner said the<br />

proposal would have to be revenue neutral,<br />

so that a cut in the corporate tax rate would<br />

have to be offset by new revenue from the<br />

elimination of special preferences.”<br />

Privately, many in Washington expect that<br />

the ef<strong>for</strong>t to find offsetting revenue streams<br />

will focus largely on the tax treatment of the<br />

“pass through” entities, principally partnerships<br />

and S-corporations, largely because the<br />

number of these entities has exploded during<br />

the past ten years. In a “pass-through” entity,<br />

income flows into the partnership or S-Corp<br />

untaxed. Once it is distributed to the partners<br />

of S-Corp owner, it is taxed as individual rates.<br />

Some believe that Congress could move to<br />

impose a corporate tax on partnerships at<br />

the partnership level, be<strong>for</strong>e the partnership<br />

income being distributed to partners. Once<br />

distributed, the income would be taxed again<br />

at the individual rate.<br />

Fueling concerns about the issue, Geithner<br />

said during a recent Senate hearing: “Congress<br />

has to revisit this basic question about<br />

whether it makes sense <strong>for</strong> us as a country to<br />

allow certain businesses to choose whether<br />

they’re treated as a corporation <strong>for</strong> tax purposes<br />

or not.”<br />

Another possible result of passage of<br />

omnibus corporate tax re<strong>for</strong>m would be to<br />

limit or eliminate the deductibility of interest<br />

paid on debt used to acquire companies.<br />

Such an idea has long been championed by<br />

<strong>for</strong>mer Fed Chairman Paul Volcker and was<br />

referenced in terms of home mortgages by<br />

the President’s Commission on Fiscal Responsibility.<br />

If the ef<strong>for</strong>t to reduce nominal corporate<br />

tax rates takes hold, and signs suggest that<br />

it will, it could result in imposition of a corporate<br />

tax on partnerships at the partnership<br />

level and the end to deductibility of interest<br />

<strong>for</strong> acquisitions, both of which would create<br />

major challenges <strong>for</strong> private equity firms of all<br />

sizes, but especially <strong>for</strong> the smaller firms.<br />

FASB and IASB<br />

The Financial Accounting Standards<br />

Board, in cooperation with its international<br />

counterpart, the International Accounting<br />

Standards Board, in the next few weeks is<br />

scheduled to release a new set of rules governing<br />

fair value accounting practices. These<br />

rules could have a profound effect on the<br />

small and mid-sized alternative asset management<br />

community.<br />

The new FASB and IASB rules are likely to<br />

require investment fund managers to spend<br />

much more time, energy and money justifying<br />

the valuations they place on their funds and<br />

fund investments (meaning portfolio companies).<br />

Among other things, the rules are expected<br />

to require fund managers to run socalled<br />

“alternative scenarios” under a variety<br />

of valuation methods and justify the method<br />

chosen - all of which most likely will require<br />

additional hours from the firm’s outside financial<br />

auditors.<br />

In addition, four separate regulatory<br />

agencies are dealing with rules attempting<br />

to regulate investments by banks in private<br />

equity funds. Although there is a specific<br />

expectation contained in the Dodd-Frank Act<br />

<strong>for</strong> Small Business Investment Companies,<br />

these rules must be implemented in a manner<br />

that does not restrict or retard investments in<br />

SBICs. In addition, some have proposed increasing<br />

the limits on the size of companies<br />

in which SBICs may invest, which would open<br />

a broader window of investment <strong>for</strong> these<br />

specialized firms.<br />

Robert W. Stewart is a senior vice president,<br />

financial services, TheWadeGroup, Inc.<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 43


COMMUNITY COMMENTARY<br />

Who Killed the Electric Car<br />

Tom Gage, CEO of AC Propulsion, provides customer testimonial <strong>for</strong> SAP Business ByDesign<br />

Tom Gage<br />

No one as it turns out. Although GM<br />

recalled and crushed its famous EV1<br />

electric car in 2003, electric transportation<br />

is now heading <strong>for</strong> commercialization.<br />

For two of the lead engineers on the<br />

program that developed the prototype <strong>for</strong> the<br />

EV1 in 1989, the promise of electric propulsion<br />

was the “call to action” <strong>for</strong> creating AC<br />

Propulsion, Inc. Driven by a passion <strong>for</strong> efficiency,<br />

high per<strong>for</strong>mance and new technology<br />

(and wary of the slow pace of change in big<br />

companies), Alan Cocconi and Wally Rippel<br />

founded their own company in 1992. Their<br />

goal then was to create electric vehicles that<br />

people actually wanted to drive.<br />

Over the intervening 19 years, AC Propulsion<br />

has experienced the roller coaster ride<br />

that paralleled the developments within the<br />

EV (Electric Vehicle) industry. I joined the<br />

company early on (1996), after extensive and<br />

varied automotive engineering experience<br />

that included an 8-year stretch with Chrysler<br />

in Detroit. Even with the ups and downs, our<br />

company has become a recognized leader in<br />

proprietary EV technology <strong>for</strong> drive systems<br />

and vehicle integration. Opportunities <strong>for</strong><br />

commercialization were limited, until now.<br />

The long journey and lessons we learned.<br />

With just over 100 employees, AC Propulsion<br />

has a strong position in the still small EV market<br />

as the technology supplier <strong>for</strong> the original<br />

Tesla Roadster, BMW MINI E, Luxgen MPV_E<br />

(Taiwan), and one of the top prizewinners in<br />

the $10 million 2010 Progressive Automotive<br />

X-Prize competition (the MonoTracer E electric<br />

cabin motorcycle).<br />

Today, AC Propulsion stands alone as the<br />

only EV-focused company in the world with<br />

no debt, no cumulative losses, and positive<br />

cash flow. But things weren’t always looking<br />

this way. AC Propulsion has been run largely<br />

as an R&D shop by a dedicated group of engineers<br />

that has not wavered from its conviction<br />

that electric vehicles can be fast, convenient,<br />

and fun to drive. These same engineers<br />

endured periods with no paychecks in the<br />

early years, and thus ran the company with<br />

an eye toward minimal overhead. Even so, at<br />

one point the company was down to only 5<br />

employees. Funding provided by an angel investor<br />

in late 2005 enabled the company to<br />

expand development ef<strong>for</strong>ts at a time when<br />

the auto industry was returning its attention<br />

to the advantages and strategic value of electric<br />

propulsion<br />

More recently, the revenue from key commercial<br />

development contracts sustained our<br />

company through the past couple of years,<br />

while the country experienced a deep recession.<br />

Our commercial success and the positive<br />

cash flow that came with it was due more<br />

to the strong technology content of our products<br />

than to smart marketing or savvy strategic<br />

planning. All four of the game-changing<br />

events <strong>for</strong> AC Propulsion – the Tesla license<br />

in 2004, the angel investment in 2005, and<br />

the BMW MINI E contract in 2008, and the<br />

Luxgen business in 2010 – resulted from engineers<br />

talking to engineers – not from more<br />

conventional marketing and sales initiatives.<br />

Specifically:<br />

1. The Tesla license evolved from the desire of<br />

Martin Eberhard to own a tzero electric sports<br />

car which had been produced as a prototype<br />

by AC Propulsion and outper<strong>for</strong>med several<br />

European exotics (Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini)<br />

in short races. Our company wanted to<br />

build drive systems, not cars - so we loaned<br />

the tzero to Martin and offered to license him<br />

our technology if he could find someone to<br />

build the car. Martin raised the funding to establish<br />

his own company to build high-per<strong>for</strong>mance<br />

roadsters – and that company, Tesla<br />

Motors, went on to go public in 2010 with a<br />

market cap in excess of $2 billion.<br />

2. The angel investment stemmed from the<br />

personal interest of a seasoned battery engineer.<br />

Believing that the company’s IP had<br />

tremendous potential, he brought in a series<br />

of his friends as potential investors, one of<br />

whom decided to invest the necessary seed<br />

capital (and pay the back wages).<br />

3. The BMW MINI E contract <strong>for</strong> a pilot fleet<br />

(500 cars total) resulted from a technical conference<br />

where I was presenting the results of<br />

our V2G research study, along with a demo<br />

car on display. There were BMW engineers<br />

in the audience who took note that we had<br />

functional technology (vs theoretical), and<br />

in<strong>for</strong>med senior management in Munich. The<br />

result was an order that seemed almost impossible<br />

at the time: build 500 drive systems<br />

in 6 months. That got the attention of the entire<br />

global automotive community.<br />

4. Luxgen has become ACP’s largest customer,<br />

and in this case, the business resulted<br />

from a combination of our engineers and<br />

board member’s active pursuit of Luxgen, and<br />

Luxgen’s strategic decision to include EVs as<br />

part of their product portfolio.<br />

As a result of the above events, at the<br />

end of 2010, the Tesla Roadster, MINI E, and<br />

Yulon MPV E represented a significant majority<br />

of new EVs on the road and so ACP could<br />

44 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


COMMUNITY COMMENTARY<br />

honestly claim that upwards of 80% of all EVs<br />

in the world contained our drive system technology.<br />

But few people knew the “backstory”<br />

behind how that all came about.<br />

Going <strong>for</strong>ward, we decided to take control<br />

of our own destiny and adopt a proactive<br />

marketing approach where WE approach our<br />

prospective customers, instead of the other<br />

way around. Our angel investor is keenly interested<br />

in the China market potential and<br />

invested an additional $12 million in 2010<br />

toward a new and bigger factory in Beijing,<br />

but expressed a desire <strong>for</strong> a financial partner<br />

to further develop the company’s potential. In<br />

mid-2010, we undertook to raise additional<br />

capital – with the understanding that further<br />

R&D ef<strong>for</strong>ts would be curtailed until more<br />

funding was in place.<br />

Like the pioneers of social media, AC Propulsion<br />

is now poised at the <strong>for</strong>efront of a<br />

global emerging market. And, as is sometimes<br />

the case, our company does not fit within<br />

any of the typical investment profiles – too<br />

far along in the growth cycle <strong>for</strong> the venture<br />

capital funds, too early in the growth cycle<br />

<strong>for</strong> private equity funds, and not quite right<br />

<strong>for</strong> certain strategic investors. We concluded<br />

internally that we needed to take a different<br />

approach to raising money, so that we would<br />

not lose our competitive edge in technology.<br />

Our business model also raised questions,<br />

since it centers around providing a key component<br />

of the car on an outsource basis – a<br />

practical approach that enables car companies<br />

to participate in the EV market quickly<br />

and cost-effectively, but one that is contrary<br />

to the traditional method of building key components<br />

in-house. AC Propulsion is now exploring<br />

different financing options with a select<br />

group of strategic investors, designed to<br />

leverage the company’s leading edge in V2G<br />

(Vehicle-to-Grid) technology that provides a<br />

solution and economic benefits <strong>for</strong> integrating<br />

electric vehicles with the power grid .<br />

From the business management angle, AC<br />

Propulsion’s internal organization is a mix of<br />

mature technology processes and start-up<br />

level infrastructure that was workable <strong>for</strong><br />

years while EVs were just a topic of conversation.<br />

The introduction of the Nissan Leaf<br />

and the Chevy Volt in <strong>2011</strong> signaled that EVs<br />

are finally hitting the mainstream. Now that<br />

the commercialization of the EV industry is<br />

becoming a reality, our projected growth demands<br />

require a different approach to how<br />

we conduct our day-to-day business.<br />

So what did we do In mid-2010, we assessed<br />

what was needed to respond to the<br />

changing dynamics within the marketplace:<br />

• Hired an investment banker to help us<br />

explore the capital markets, with intent<br />

to go public within two or three years;<br />

• Developed a plan <strong>for</strong> expanded marketing<br />

ef<strong>for</strong>ts in China and ROW (Rest of World)<br />

designed to go TO the customers rather<br />

than wait <strong>for</strong> them to find us;<br />

• Lived by the motto that “cash is king,”<br />

watching every dollar spent and<br />

negotiating cash advances with<br />

prospective customers;<br />

• Trans<strong>for</strong>med our existing leadership<br />

model into a split model (one exec<br />

handling inside operational decisions<br />

while I focused on external marketing<br />

and fundraising) ;<br />

• Established contract relationships with<br />

financial and legal professionals, who<br />

identified and resolved certain tax and<br />

legal issues that could have become<br />

high-cost mistakes, and<br />

• Set out to increase production capacity<br />

and upgrade manufacturing processes to<br />

meet projected demand growth.<br />

In hindsight, we should have taken these<br />

same steps years ago. It quickly became clear<br />

that our historical style of intuitive management,<br />

lack of strong command and control<br />

systems from the legacy QuickBooks instance,<br />

and manual processes would no longer<br />

be adequate to deal with the anticipated<br />

hockey-stick EV market or the requirements of<br />

outside investors. Nor would these methods<br />

provide the controls or documentation required<br />

to obtain the ISO and UL certifications<br />

demanded by automotive OEMs.<br />

AC Propulsion reviewed a number of solutions,<br />

looking <strong>for</strong> an integrated and scalable<br />

ERP system that could handle the expected<br />

growth without crippling the company with a<br />

lengthy, costly implementation process. We<br />

sought the expertise and experience from Tatum<br />

LLC and after considerable review and internal<br />

discussion, we selected SAP Business<br />

ByDesign and began implementation in late<br />

February <strong>2011</strong> under the direction of the Tatum-led<br />

project management team. A fast implementation,<br />

af<strong>for</strong>dable price tag, high level<br />

of functionality in project management and<br />

MRP and the ability to scale to meet expected<br />

growth were among the considerations.<br />

As we approach the “last 5 yards” of the<br />

implementation in the US, AC Propulsion is<br />

already experiencing in<strong>for</strong>mation benefits<br />

from the collaboration between various functional<br />

departments.<br />

Looking to the future, AC Propulsion is<br />

positioned to supply automakers around the<br />

world with innovative drive system technology.<br />

We are also focused on the enormous<br />

$15 billion market potential within China.<br />

From the perspective of the C-suite, the decisions<br />

made now will determine whether AC<br />

Propulsion remains a small company or joins<br />

the ranks of the tier-one automotive suppliers.<br />

It is no longer enough to have leadingedge<br />

technology; our company must develop<br />

strategic partnering relationships across all<br />

facets of the EV industry – car companies,<br />

battery suppliers, contract manufacturers (to<br />

offset capacity shortages), utility companies,<br />

grid operators and governmental agencies.<br />

As CEO, this requires me to play a dual<br />

rule: from the inside, to enlist collaboration<br />

and encourage continued innovation; from<br />

the outside, to serve as an ambassador <strong>for</strong><br />

AC Propulsion.<br />

We recognize that to emerge on top requires<br />

every single person in our company to<br />

run faster and smarter than the competition<br />

– but the prize is to be “the last man standing”<br />

in the design and manufacture of drive<br />

systems (with substantial market share), and<br />

that is where we aim to be by 2015.<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 45


BARRIERS continued from page 16<br />

the “network effect” represents one of the highest barriers to entry.<br />

This is why Google was willing to pay upwards of $6 billion <strong>for</strong><br />

Groupon, but upon being rejected, opted against picking up one of<br />

the company’s many clones <strong>for</strong> significantly less.<br />

“It is a powerful advantage and it’s very hard to find,” observes<br />

Brilliant.<br />

Indeed, who can <strong>for</strong>get the ascension of Blu-Ray as the next<br />

generation optical disc <strong>for</strong>mat It ultimately came down to a race<br />

between Sony and Pioneer and Toshiba and NEC to build the strongest<br />

network as fast as possible. Sony and Pioneer succeeded, which<br />

made the HD DVD <strong>for</strong>mat Toshiba and NEC were pushing effectively<br />

the next generation Betamax.<br />

Among the phantom barriers, size or marketshare probably do<br />

more to lull investors into a sense of com<strong>for</strong>t than actually provide<br />

protection against competitive threats. And when companies aren’t<br />

scaleable, it can leave them even more exposed when business either<br />

plateaus or plummets. General Motors provides a case study to that<br />

effect.<br />

Technology could be considered another phantom barrier. As<br />

Morningstar identifies in its research, “what one smart engineer can<br />

invent, another can improve upon.”<br />

It was exactly ten years between the launch of the first Palm PDA<br />

and Apple’s introduction of its iPhone. Memories of trying to master<br />

Palm’s “graffiti input zone” probably seem further removed.<br />

ROADMAP FOR DISSENT continued from page 19<br />

trust blowback. It’s no secret that Microsoft, which had previously<br />

attempted a hostile takeover of Yahoo, was opposed to the deal. Coincidentally,<br />

AT&T was also a vocal opponent, as Michael Crowley,<br />

the chief marketing officer of the company’s Yellowpages.com division,<br />

was among the critics to testify at a Senate Judiciary Committee<br />

hearing. Weiner wouldn’t comment on the transaction, but as a New<br />

York Times story at the time identified, momentum turned when<br />

lobbying ef<strong>for</strong>ts spread beyond Microsoft and AT&T to groups that<br />

seemingly had no dogs in the fight. For instance, the Times identified<br />

that various farm groups, including the National <strong>Association</strong> of<br />

Farmer Elected Committees and the National Latino Farmers and<br />

Ranchers Trade <strong>Association</strong>, were among those who helped <strong>for</strong>m an<br />

unlikely opposition.<br />

John Taylor, a spokesman <strong>for</strong> Sprint, seems to suggest that the<br />

company’s public opposition is being driven in part to motivate consumer<br />

action. He also instinctively aligns Sprint’s interests with the<br />

consumers, and bills its opposition to the deal as “David vs. Goliath,”<br />

when commenting on the relative muscle each company enlists<br />

in Washington.<br />

“Obviously, the case is going to be decided by the FCC and the<br />

antitrust [regulators] and it’s going to be based on facts and record,”<br />

he says. “But it’s difficult to ignore the public opinion and if you’re<br />

AT&T and T-Mobile, and you’re trying to sell this, it’s hard to argue<br />

that eliminating a low cost carrier is in the public interest.”<br />

Taylor also sounds as confident as his counterparts at AT&T,<br />

identifying that Sprint is not interested in any possible concessions.<br />

“We believe it should be rejected entirely,” he says.<br />

The next test will be whether the consumer groups pick up the<br />

same message over the next 12 months, as legislators and other industry<br />

observers weigh in.<br />

HEALTHCARE continued from page 27<br />

being uninsured until the cost of being sick is more than the cost of<br />

insurance,” he describes. A corollary is that only sick individuals will<br />

seek to buy insurance, causing premiums to climb.<br />

Lane says he has also seen some unintended consequences emerge<br />

as it relates to M&A. He cites the “36-Month Rule,” which applies<br />

to home health agencies that participate in Medicare. A home health<br />

agency is required to wait 36 months following its initial enrollment<br />

in Medicare be<strong>for</strong>e it can sell a majority-stake if it intends to<br />

maintain its status in the Medicare program. The clock then resets<br />

following a change-of-control <strong>for</strong>cing the HHA to wait another 36<br />

months be<strong>for</strong>e it can be sold again and maintain its accreditation.<br />

The Centers <strong>for</strong> Medicare and Medicaid have tweaked the rule to<br />

provide some flexibility, and allows an exemption, <strong>for</strong> instance, if an<br />

owner dies. Lane, though, says the rule still creates some significant<br />

roadblocks that may seem counter productive to the administration’s<br />

stated goals.<br />

Beyond restricting the scale lawmakers sought to encourage through<br />

re<strong>for</strong>m, Lane observes, “Why would a lender even finance an HHA if<br />

they couldn’t <strong>for</strong>eclose on a business and sell it to someone else.”<br />

Still, he remains bullish about the sector’s prospects, calling it one<br />

of the few industries in which unit volume growth is inevitable. He<br />

adds the caveat that the growing end market is offset somewhat “by<br />

the headwinds in price,” alluding to the pressures facing federal and<br />

state budgets. “Pricing is going to be more erratic, because it’s the<br />

one area the government can actually control.” He adds that buyers<br />

would be wise to keep leverage multiples in check.<br />

Leerink’s Boylan is perhaps more optimistic. He describes that he<br />

is running across more examples in which the “winning bidders paid<br />

significant premiums over the next highest bids,” a sign that companies<br />

are assuming a ‘must buy’ urgency amid the altered universe.<br />

He adds that while he has run across processes in which books are<br />

sent out to 50 or more possible suitors, the tendency increasingly is<br />

to run a narrower process -- a sign that the winners amid the frenzied<br />

environment are becoming easier to identify.<br />

“The biggest threat to dealflow,” Boylan identifies, “is if the transactions<br />

we’re seeing today, don’t pan out.”<br />

46 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>


McCHRYSTAL continued from page 29<br />

have to establish relationships -- personal relationships -- and you<br />

have to build trust. Until you do that, you won’t be able to gain any<br />

traction. From there you have show reliability and guidance. You<br />

need to provide a firm direction, but at the same time maintain some<br />

flexibility because you’re dealing with such a diverse group -- it’s not<br />

just the varying cultural backgrounds, but you also have different<br />

military capabilities and varying numbers in terms of the size of the<br />

<strong>for</strong>ce. And you can’t be judgmental. It’s your job to take all of the<br />

pieces available and use them in a way that best maximizes the resources<br />

and serves the end goal.<br />

In the case of the Afghan <strong>for</strong>ces, we were trying to help them<br />

build out their security infrastructure, which had been torn asunder.<br />

The ef<strong>for</strong>t was challenged not only by the insurgency, but also by an<br />

immature government. You had your day-to-day operations and in<br />

the background still had to work toward the long-term development<br />

of the <strong>for</strong>ces; you had to focus on both at once.<br />

What we tried to do was partner with the them and work side by<br />

side, so our <strong>for</strong>ces could benefit from their passion and cultural expertise,<br />

and they would benefit from the professionalism of the coalition<br />

and technology. It had to feel like an equal partnership in order<br />

to work. You don’t deny the differences, but you have to find a way<br />

to integrate the elements other <strong>for</strong>ces can provide and ensure that<br />

you’re using the maximum capabilities. And when we put American<br />

regiments in the North, they were put under <strong>for</strong>eign <strong>for</strong>ces. You have<br />

to show that kind of faith.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: In terms of investing, I imagine a lot of<br />

our readers would want to get your take on the defense budget<br />

and the possible cuts. Are there any insights you can provide<br />

McChrystal: Not really. I personally support the need <strong>for</strong> reductions<br />

to the budget, but there is a trade-off at some point, which<br />

means you have to accept certain risks in some areas. But the crown<br />

jewel of the military is the quality of people, and something that sets<br />

the US apart is the country’s ef<strong>for</strong>ts to support them and take care<br />

of their families.<br />

Mergers & Acquisitions: As a final question, how do you see<br />

warfare evolving<br />

McChrystal: What we’ve seen in the last few years is that people are<br />

going to look <strong>for</strong> ways to negate the superiority of other <strong>for</strong>ces. They’re<br />

going to look <strong>for</strong> ways to take the advantages off of the table. They<br />

will try make it difficult <strong>for</strong> aircraft, <strong>for</strong> example, or attack net centric<br />

capabilities. If they can reduce the level of technology at our disposal,<br />

it becomes a different fight, so that’s where I think we’re going.<br />

We also need to think long-term about developing capabilities to<br />

work in any geographic region. We haven’t completely developed the<br />

cultural knowledge and acuity yet. You have to do that homework<br />

up front, and if you understand a particular region be<strong>for</strong>e going into<br />

it, you have a significant advantage.<br />

I also think we have to establish tighter relationships with <strong>for</strong>eign<br />

governments and militaries. We should focus on <strong>for</strong>ming tighter<br />

personal relationships, and bring people to the US to study and our<br />

leaders can go study overseas. These relationships are anything but<br />

irrelevant.<br />

STRATEGIC POWER SHIFT continued from page 30<br />

the focus on growth, but he noted that domestic acquisitions still<br />

accounted <strong>for</strong> the bulk of the company’s overall capital commitment.<br />

Participants on the panel also noted that strategics have shown<br />

more aggression than in past eras, at least in terms of starting conversations<br />

with potential targets.<br />

“We’ve seen strategic buyers be much more proactive in calling<br />

private equity groups and even other strategics to pre-empt or get<br />

ahead of a potential sale process,” McDonagh says. “They didn’t do a<br />

lot of that in past upcycles; they were content to wait <strong>for</strong> properties<br />

to come to market.”<br />

The arrival of strategic buyers won’t necessarily shut out private<br />

equity, which drove much of the activity in the middle market in<br />

the fourth quarter. In fact, McDonagh adds that PE firms are actually<br />

gaining market share in terms of middle market activity, and<br />

McDonagh cites that given the liquidity of the debt markets, “PE<br />

groups can compete with strategics.”<br />

But Marc Wolpow, co-founder of Boston PE firm Audax Group,<br />

notes that the line distinguishing corporate from financial buyers has<br />

blurred in recent years.<br />

“Our articulated strategy is growth through acquisition; we’ve<br />

acquired roughly 50 to 55 plat<strong>for</strong>m companies and through those<br />

completed roughly 150 add-ons,” Wolpow describes.<br />

Still, as AT&T’s T-Mobile deal underscores, when strategics want<br />

an asset, little can stand in their way.<br />

“Corporations are going to stay strategic and focused, but at the<br />

end of the day, if they want to own an asset, they’re going to own it,”<br />

McDonagh said.<br />

SBA continued from page 33<br />

blind to the factors behind the program’s recent popularity either.<br />

He is aware that the traditional fundraising markets are more challenging<br />

and that in the small market, dealmakers at times can still<br />

struggle to find debt. But he also believes that the recent converts<br />

will help tell the story.<br />

“The bottom line is that the risk/reward of our program is very<br />

attractive,” Greene says. “From our perspective, the last challenge is<br />

making sure everyone knows this capital is available.”<br />

<strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong> MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS 47


Deal Flow<br />

March’s Key Deals<br />

Target<br />

Price<br />

Acquirer Target Date Industry ($mil)<br />

AT&T Inc T-Mobile USA Inc 3/20 Telecommunications 39,000<br />

BRE Retail Holdings Inc Centro Properties Group-US 3/1 Real Estate; Mortgage Bankers and Brokers 9,400<br />

Berkshire Hathaway Inc Lubrizol Corp 3/14 Chemicals and Allied Products 8,793<br />

Valeant Pharm Intl Inc Cephalon Inc 3/29 Drugs 5,602<br />

Western Digital Ireland Ltd Viviti Technologies Ltd 3/7 Computer and Office Equipment 4,250<br />

Terumo Corp CaridianBCT Inc 3/7 Measuring, Medical, Photo Equipment; Clocks 2,625<br />

Gibraltar Acquisition Corp GSI Commerce Inc 3/28 Miscellaneous Retail Trade 2,279<br />

Investor Group LDH Energy Asset Holdings LLC 3/22 Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution 1,925<br />

Investor Group Lawson Software Inc 3/12 Prepackaged Software 1,899<br />

KNOC Anadarko Petroleum-Maverick 3/21 Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 1,550<br />

Undisclosed Joint Venture Highland Hospitality-Hotel(28) 3/10 Hotels and Casinos 1,277<br />

The Renco Group Inc Severstal North America-Ops 3/2 Metal and Metal Products 1,192<br />

AIG Maiden Lane II-RMBS 3/10 Investment Firms, Dealers, Exchanges 1,099<br />

Walter Investment Management Green Tree Servicing LLC 3/28 Credit Institutions 1,045<br />

Charles Schwab Corp optionsXpress Holdings Inc 3/21 Investment Firms, Dealers, Exchanges 1,030<br />

TMM Holdings LP Taylor Woodrow Hldg (USA) Inc 3/31 Construction Firms 955<br />

Legend Natural Gas IV LP Range Resources Corp-Barnett 3/1 Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 900<br />

Investor Group 99 Cents Only Stores 3/11 Retail Trade-General Merchandise and Apparel 896<br />

White Tiger Gold Ltd Century Mining Corp 3/14 Mining 763<br />

Spark Acquisition Corp Celera Corp 3/18 Business Services 657<br />

Galaxy Dream Corp RC2 Corp 3/10 Miscellaneous Manufacturing 604<br />

El Paso Pipeline Partners LP Southern Natural Gas Co 3/7 Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution 587<br />

CreXus Investment Corp Barclays Capital RE Inc-Coml R 3/21 Real Estate; Mortgage Bankers and Brokers 586<br />

WGR Asset Holding Co LLC Wattenberg Processing Plant 3/22 Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 576<br />

Kirby Corp K-Sea Transp Partners LP 3/13 Transportation and Shipping (except air) 574<br />

Vanguard Natural Resources LLC Encore Energy Partners LP 3/25 Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 568<br />

Catalyst Health Solutions Inc Walgreens Health Initiatives 3/9 Insurance 525<br />

Cephalon Inc Gemin X Pharmaceuticals Inc 3/21 Drugs 525<br />

Station GVR Acquisition LLC Green Valley Ranch Gaming LLC 3/10 Hotels and Casinos 500<br />

NetApp Inc LSI-Engenio External Storage 3/9 Computer and Office Equipment 480<br />

James River Coal Co International Resource 3/6 Mining 475<br />

Warburg Pincus LLC Rural/Metro Corp 3/28 Transportation and Shipping (except air) 438<br />

Cals Refineries Ltd Hardt Group GmbH-Cenco Asts 3/16 Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 417<br />

Dover Subsidiary Inc drugstore.com Inc 3/24 Miscellaneous Retail Trade 414<br />

Reynolds Group Holdings Ltd Dopaco Inc 3/11 Paper and Allied Products 400<br />

Capital Power Corp Bridgeport Energy LLC 3/8 Electric, Gas, and Water Distribution 355<br />

Bondholders DirecTV Holdings LLC 3/11 Radio and Television Broadcasting Stations 353<br />

Harbinger Capital Partners Old Mutual (US) Holdings Inc 3/7 Holding Companies, Except Banks 350<br />

Mood Media Corp Muzak Holdings LLC 3/24 Advertising Services 340<br />

Industria de Diseno Textil SA Kushner Cos-666 Fifth Avenue 3/4 Retail Trade-General Merchandise and Apparel 324<br />

Host Hotels & Resorts Inc New York Helmsley Hotel,New 3/24 Hotels and Casinos 314<br />

Newfield Exploration Co Uinta Basin Oil & Gas Assets 3/22 Oil and Gas; Petroleum Refining 308<br />

<br />

48 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS <strong>May</strong> <strong>2011</strong>

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