Mergers and Acquisitions
How the World Goes on in This Crazy Economy
Mergers and Acquisitions are just one of the casualties of the credit crunch and economic uncertainty of the past four years, but they are still happening and, in fact, beginning to show renewed vigor. During this upcoming meeting, the audience will have the opportunity to understand:
- What is the current landscape of the M&A market?
- Who are the private, middle-market companies interested in selling or buying?
- How have valuations changed?
- What are the financing alternatives available?
- What deal trends can be perceived in this environment?
- Logistically, what is M&A or financing process like?
- What are the new rules and regulations and how are they affecting transactions?
And most importantly:
- How making operational, financial and legal decisions well ahead of a potential transaction can help your company maintain its value and remain an attractive partner through the sale process.
- How operating efficiency, customer/supplier quality, strategic focus, key management effectiveness and other non-financial metrics affect valuations and deal terms.
- What steps to take to prepare your company for a sale or capital raise.
We expect the meeting to be highly interactive. Bring your curiosity, your attention and any questions relevant to your own company's situation -- and anything else you ever wanted to know on M&A. We look forward to a great talk, and some lively networking over bagels and coffee.
Some important housekeeping items for our meeting:
*** Parking: There will be ample free parking in the garage under the PwC offices or in the adjacent parking lot near the Scranton/Mira Mesa Food Court. Drive through the garage to the second set of elevators, to the East Tower, and head up to Suite 300. ***
*** Our breakfast refreshments will be provided courtesy of Carol Corporales of Wateridge Insurance Services. Some of you have previously met Carol, who came as our guest to a couple of our earlier meetings. We're pleased to welcome her as the sponsor of this meeting. ***
*** Please type your name on both sides of the attached name tent card template, print it out on regular paper, and bring it with you to the meeting.
*** Thank you again to our colleague and Speakers Chair, Teddy Feliciano, for her work coordinating the arrangements for the excellent speaker at this and all of our monthly meetings.***
***Important reminder for those members maintaining their professional certifications: we offer the documentation for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for our speaker presentations. For those members interested in this, you may complete the appropriate forms, which we'll have available at the meeting, for 1.0 hours of CPE credit.***
Speaker
Kirk Wickham - Managing Director and Co-Founder of W Partners
About Kirk Wickham
Kurt Wickham is the Managing Director and Co-Founder of W Partners, an independent investment banking firm based in San Diego that provides sophisticated investment banking services primarily to middle-market companies in the Western United States. W Partners services include merger, acquisition and divestiture advisory, strategic transaction advisory, equity and debt capital raising, and family business advisory. A typical client would generally have revenue greater than $20 million or EBITDA greater than $4 million, an experienced and reputable management team, strong competitive position, attractive growth prospects and headquarters in the Western U.S.
Kurt has over 15 years investment banking experience advising middle-market and major U.S. and foreign corporations. He has advised clients in a diverse cross-section of industries, including consumer products, retail, agribusiness, aerospace & defense, healthcare services, medical technology, technology, wireless communications, heavy industry, alternative and renewable energy and electrical products. Kurt has also advised clients across a variety of situations, including mergers & acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, strategic alternatives analysis, fairness and valuation opinions, private equity and debt financings, recapitalizations and other strategic and financial advisory services.
Prior to joining W Partners, Kurt was a Managing Director at RA Capital Advisors where he executed a variety of transactions, but primarily focused on mergers & acquisitions and private placements of equity and debt capital. Earlier, he was a Vice President in the New York-based M&A Group of Credit Suisse, where he specialized in cross-border M&A transactions and the emerging markets of Latin America and Asia.
Kurt began his career as a member of Ernst & Young's M&A Advisory group based in Dallas and Chicago, and an auditor with the accounting firms Consumer Products and Entrepreneurial Services Groups in Dallas. He earned his bachelors and masters degrees in accounting from Brigham Young University. Kurt regularly serves in advisory and board positions for private companies, industry organizations and charities. He is a FINRA-registered general securities principal and a Certified Public Accountant licensed in California and Texas.