Spring 2024 Wrap-Up of ACG Events

Spray, a best-selling author, consultant, trainer, executive coach and expert EOS Implementer, shared insights drawn from her extensive experience helping individuals and companies achieve growth.

Sponsors included Statesman Business Advisors, Texas Capital Bank, USI, Abip, Boyar Miller, BVA Group and Imperial.

2024 EAST COAST DEALMAKER INVITATIONAL

The annual exclusive ACG event was held Feb. 25-27 at the Streamsong Resort in Bowling Green, Florida.

Known for its picturesque landscape, Streamsong Resort provided an ideal backdrop for this limited, invitation-only golf outing, which caters to senior-level investment bankers and private equity investors in the middle market.

They were treated to a schedule packed with networking opportunities, including a welcome reception, breakfasts, dinners, pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings and golf.

The DealMaker Invitational events began in February 2022 as a way to bring middle-market professionals together for exclusive relationship-building experiences.

These golf events are held at different locations throughout the year. They include the East Coast DealMaker Invitational, the DealMAX DealMaker Invitational at Cascata Golf Club in April in Las Vegas and the West Coast DealMaker Invitational at Half Moon Bay in San Francisco in July.

2023 ACG TORONTO DEALSOURCE NORTH AT CAPITAL CONNECTION

The 7th Fall DealSource North Conference, in conjunction with the 21st Capital Connection Conference, was hosted on Nov. 14 at the Beanfield Centre in Toronto.

The conference is regarded as the key dealmaking event in Canada for investment banks and M&A advisory firms from Canada and the U.S. The event drew a record number of companies and offered pre-scheduled meetings for private equity, capital providers and family office firms to explore potential partnerships.

In addition to the DealSource meetings, attendees had access to the Capital Connection conference, which ran concurrently and featured 45 speakers in 11 presentations. This allowed participants to benefit from the thought leadership at the Capital Connection conference and tap into business development opportunities at DealSource North.

2024 ACG ST. LOUIS DEALSOURCE

About 500 dealmakers attended the 2024 ACG St. Louis DealSource, held on Jan. 18-19 at the Ritz-Carlton in Clayton, Missouri.

On Thursday, Jan. 18, senior lenders, mezzanine capital providers, private equity groups, investment bankers and business owners spent the afternoon in one-on-one meetings.

Following the meetings, the Craft Beer and Spirits Tasting allowed attendees to sample local brews and spirits.

The event continued Friday, Jan. 19, where attendees enjoyed a panel discussion featuring industry leaders at the Private Equity Perspectives Breakfast moderated by Stifel’s David Lazar. Panelists included Jack Seneff from Thompson Street Capital Partners, Jessica Ginsberg from LFM Capital and Mark Jones of River Associates.

DealSource sponsors included Husch Blackwell, Wipfli, Plante Moran, Parkside Financial, Randall Partners and Altvia. The Craft Beer and Spirits Tasting was sponsored by RMS, WILsquare, Datasite, JPMorgan Chase, RubinBrown, Harbour Group, Nolan & Associates, Growth Operators, FORVIS, Thompson Street Capital Partners, Armanino, Enterprise Bank & Trust and Forsyth Advisors.

2023 FLORIDA CAPITAL CONNECTION

More than 900 middle-market professionals and dealmakers attended the 18th Florida ACG Capital Connection at the JW Marriott Water Street in Tampa in November. The two-day event blended business with leisure, offering attendees networking opportunities, important discussions and fun activities in downtown Tampa.

The 2023 Florida Capital Connection began on Nov. 1 with a golf outing, followed by the rooftop reception for early arrivals. The main conference activities included the Capital Connection Wine Tasting and the ACG Florida Poker Tournament.

Beth Cahill of Windsor Capital, Emery Ellinger of Aberdeen Advisors and Reid Haney of Hill Ward Henderson served as chairs for the event.

2024 M&A SOUTH

A networking event for corporate growth and middle-market dealmaking for the Southeast community took place Feb. 5-7 at the Hotel at Avalon & Conference Center in Alpharetta, Georgia. More than 1,200 professionals, including corporate development officers, accountants, lawyers, senior lenders and other dealmakers, attended the event.

The conference kicked off with a roundtable led by GF Data, an ACG-owned provider of middle-market deal valuations and terms. It was followed by a Corporate Development Roundtable and Sparkling Connections: ACG Women’s Networking event.

The next day featured the Emerging Leaders Breakfast at South City Kitchen with Eric Sardina, partner at Future Ready Leaders, who shared insights about building and maintaining professional networks, followed by a keynote presentation titled “The Business of Sports: How the South is Scoring BIG!” Georgia Oak Partners Managing Director Dale Murphy joined President of the Atlanta Sports Council Dan Corso and Playfly Sports President John Kristick in the keynote presentation, moderated by Susan Miller of Bank of America.

The final day of the conference included the TAG (Technology Association of Georgia) Corp Dev Society Breakfast and additional time for meetings and networking in the dealmakers’ lounge and exhibitor floor.

2024 ROCKY MOUNTAIN CORPORATE GROWTH CONFERENCE

The annual event took place on Feb. 12-13 at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.

The event drew 700 attendees and aimed to foster fresh ideas and strategies for business growth. The event featured a series of sessions and workshops, delivering content that enabled participants to navigate the complexities of the market and seize opportunities for growth.

After the conference ended, participants were invited to join in a day of skiing and other winter activities.

ACG NEW YORK YOUNG PROFESSIONALS DEALSOURCE AND MENTORSHIP MEETING

The sold-out event was hosted by the chapter’s ACG New York Forward Committee on Jan. 18 at AllianceBernstein’s offices in midtown Manhattan. The ACG New York Forward Committee was created for young professionals 35 years old and younger to help them with professional development.

As part of the quarterly ACG New York Forward series, the event brought together about 100 dealmakers for one-on-one multi-industry deal meetings and special mentor/mentee networking.

The event began with Streetwise Partners and SEO Alternative Investments student mentees in private mentorship discussions with young and senior ACG members.

The gathering included interactive discussions on career navigation with John Smith, chairman and CEO at Icon Parking, and Dr. Aamir Rehman, chair of Innate Capital Partners’ board of directors and senior fellow/adjunct faculty member at Columbia Business School. The young M&A professionals and mentee students were also presented with career consulting advice from Maureen Farmer, CEO and founder of Westgate Executive Branding.

The half-day event concluded with a special reception and networking.

UPCOMING ACG EVENTS

• MAY 14: 2024 ACG Maryland Deal Forum – ACG Maryland
• MAY 29-31: M&A West – ACG San Francisco
• JUNE 5-7: 2024 Executive Women’s Symposium – ACG Pittsburgh
• JUNE 6: Dealfest Northeast 2024 – ACG Boston
• JUNE 11: 2024 Corporate Growth Conference and Awards – ACG New Jersey
• JUNE 13: SaaS & Tech-Enabled DealSource – ACG Philadelphia
• JULY 28-30: West Coast DealMaker Invitational – ACG
• AUG. 22: 2024 Pirates Game – ACG Pittsburgh
• SEPT. 4-5: Great Lakes Capital Connection – ACG Cleveland
• OCT. 1-2: M&A Tech Connect – ACG Silicon Valley
• OCT. 29-30: 25th Annual Midwest Capital Connection – ACG Chicago

For a complete list of upcoming events, visit acg.org/events.

Middle Market Growth is produced by the Association for Corporate Growth. To learn more about the organization and how to become a member, visit www.acg.org.