THE DEALMAKER'S TAKE 2024: A PANEL DISCUSSION ON THE M&A ENVIRONMENT – WHERE WE’VE BEEN AND WHERE WE ARE GOING
2023 proved to be yet another challenging year in the capital markets after a difficult environment in 2022.
- Inflation remained top of mind for consumers, market participants, and most of all, the Fed in 2023.
- Fed policy took rates north of 5% which translated to higher borrowing costs for businesses and consumers.
- The tougher cost of capital landscape weighed on both deal volume and valuations.
Despite the friction of higher interest rates, the middle market proved to be resilient. A handful of key tailwinds continue to drive markets:
- Levels of private equity dry power, while slightly off their highs, remain elevated.
- Entrepreneurs continue to innovate and build compelling businesses.
- Business owners, many of whom are approaching retirement years, need to be thoughtful about their transitions.
Come and listen to our expert panel of dealmakers, with decades of experience working with middle market companies, to learn what you can expect for 2024 and how to prepare.
Learning Objectives:
- What are the key external market drivers in M&A likely to be for buyers and sellers in 2024?
- With 2023 as our guide, what can we expect in terms of valuations going forward? What industries or business models warrant the highest multiples?
- Where are we in the cycle? What are the risks on the horizon?
- What Philadelphia specific market trends should sellers and buyers be cognizant of in 2024?
- What options exist for businesses that are not yet ready to go to market
About the Presenters:
Hear from industry experts Michael Mufson, Chief Executive Officer, Mufson Howe Hunter Company, Matthew Coyne, President, Brandywine Mergers & Acquisitions, LLC, Roger J. Braunfeld, Founding Partner, Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC, Lee Garber, General Partner, NewSpring. Moderated by Cheyenne Sweeny, Family Business Consultant and Performance Coach, Compass Point Consulting.
Thank you to our Sponsors









Event Details
Who Should Attend?
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Attorneys
You have close relationships with clients, and can benefit from being the first advisor to introduce the idea of exit planning.
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CPAs/Accountants
Owners participating in the State of Owner Readiness research continue to indicate that you are the No. 1 "Most Trusted Advisor." You are a natural fit to lead the exit planning team and deepen your relationship (and retention) of next generation owners.
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Wealth Managers
You’re a skilled relationship person. Being entangled into your clients’ professional lives matters as you build a strategy to manage their wealth upon them harvesting it from their business. Exit planning allows you to build a deeper relationship with your client, expands your COI network, while giving you an early seat at table well before the liquidity event.
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Financial Advisors
One of the critical ‘legs of the stool’ is personal financing planning. An owner must have a strong financial plan & contingency plan post-transition to enable them to thrive in the next act of the lives personally and financially. Exit planning brings this future mindset into the present. Exit is now.
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Valuation Analysts
Valuation is both a billable engagement AND an opportunity to provide owners some perspective on how to accelerate value drivers (and deal with value killers). Use exit planning to make that valuation into a longer term value acceleration engagement.
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Investment Bankers
Only 2 of every 10 businesses that come to market actually sell. Learn how exit planning can bring attractive AND ready business to your purview.
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Estate Planners
Exit planning is a natural fit for estate planners who want to operate more holistically with their owner clients.
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Strategic Consultants
One of the most critical roles in exit planning is building transferable value. Strategic consultants have the ability to expand options and drive rapid business value that affect performance today.
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Insurance Professionals
Exit planning addresses the 5 D's. So do you. Approach the risk conversation differently with exit planning.
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Mergers & Acquisition Advisors
Proper exit planning causes less deals to fall through at the last minute. Connect with CEPAs to build your healthy deal flow network.
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Commercial Lenders
One of the best relationships a business owner makes is with their banker. How can you help your corporate clients think about the future and ensure financial continuity? Answer: exit planning.
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Family Business Advisors
More than 50% of lower middle market business owners would prefer to transition to the next generation. Help them succeed with exit planning strategies.
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Other Professional Advisors
Regardless of your unique specialty, there is seat at the exit planning table for you. Learn more at www.EarnCEPA.com.
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Private Business Owners
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Members of Family Business Boards
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Professional Advisors
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Business Consultants
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Other Business Professionals
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Business Owners
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Business Owners & Their Trusted Advisors
EXIT PLANNING IS GOOD BUSINESS STRATEGY
The Exit Planning Institute, provides Financial Advisors, Accountants, Consultants, and other advisors of business owners with the critical education to differentiate themselves and add value to their existing client relationships through a credential, conference, courses, and content. Download the CEPA brochure for more information.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
Meet Matthew Coyne:
Matthew Coyne is the President of Brandywine Mergers & Acquisitions, a professional M&A advisory firm providing sell side representation to owner-led companies. He is a frequent speaker on M&A topics pertaining to privately held business transactions and has facilitated over 120 privately held business transactions since leaving the corporate world.
Matt is the author of Straight Talk from the Front Lines: Dispelling the myths and providing clear guidance about selling your business.
Meet Michael Mufson:
Michael Mufson has over 35 years’ experience as an investment banker to middle market companies. Prior to the founding of Mufson Howe Hunter in 2004, he served as the founder and head of equity capital markets for Commerce Bancorp (now TD Bank). His prior role as managing director and co-head of investment banking for Janney Montgomery Scott LLC oversaw the growth and development of investment banking from a few professionals to a significant regional investment banking group.
He started his investment banking career with Philadelphia based Butcher & Singer (now Wells Fargo) and became head of investment banking and under his leadership built its investment banking group to be among the most active and prominent regional investment banks.
Mr. Mufson has extensive transactional experience having completed hundreds of merger & acquisition transactions, private placements, recapitalizations, IPO’s, follow-on financings, and advisory assignments. During his career, Mr. Mufson has served as a director of public and private companies and has as general partner in venture capital and private equity funds.
He received his B.A. and M.B.A. degrees from George Washington University and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Meet Roger Braunfeld:
Roger J. Braunfeld is a founding partner at Royer Cooper Cohen Braunfeld LLC. He focuses on financing and development strategies and transactions for investors and a wide array of businesses in various stages of development. Among other things, Roger’s practice encompasses fund formation, private equity and venture capital transactions, debt and equity offerings, mergers and acquisitions, real estate and corporate restructurings, as well as a range of business and commercial transactions, agreements and general business counseling. Roger is also actively involved in strategic opportunities for the firm, including the creation of an alternative investment platform that has deployed more than $300M. Roger is a founding member of the PA 30 Day Fund, chairman of the Board of ESF Dreamcamp and a Trustee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
Meet Lee Garber:
Lee Garber is a Partner at NewSpring, a leading provider of private equity capital managing approximately $2.5 billion across five distinct strategies, and is dedicated NewSpring Holdings, the firm’s dedicated buyout strategy. Lee has over 12 years of operationally focused audit and principal investment experience including evaluating, managing, and assisting lower middle market businesses and helping to conceptualize, implement, and manage value creation initiatives at an operational level.
Before joining NewSpring in 2012, he was a Summer Associate with OMERS Private Equity, the direct private equity group of the Ontario Municipal Employee Retirement System, a $70+ billion Canadian pension fund, focused on middle market leveraged buyouts.
Prior to OMERS, Lee was a Senior Analyst with Versa Capital Management, a distressed and special situations private equity fund, where he worked on acquisitions and portfolio company operations across a variety of industries. Previously, he was with Ernst & Young LLP's Assurance and Advisory Business Services practice working in industries including insurance (life), gaming, government contracting, and benefit plans.
He received a BSBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis with majors in Finance and Accounting and an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business. Lee is also a CPA (inactive).
Meet Cheyenne Sweeney:
Cheyenne’s practice focused on engaging business owners, management teams, and key executives to help them better understand their role in the overall business strategy.
She facilitates strategy sessions that involved brainstorming ideas to capture the company’s story and develop the mission and vision that will help guide the executive team on operational decisions.
Cheyenne’s background, research focus, and leadership training cultivate high-performance teams that are self-aware, communicate effectively, and understand healthy conflict. A well-aligned leadership team builds the company culture and motivates one another to strive toward the next level of success.
To help Cheyenne’s clients explore their purpose, goals, and action plan, she maintains certifications as a Gravitas Impact™ Business Coach, a High Performance Coach (CHPC), a DiSC and Myers-Briggs Facilitator, and has experience with Gallup StrengthsFinder. In addition to her Ph.D., she earned a B.S. and M.S. in Social Work.
Meet Keven Shanahan:
Keven Shanahan joined Argosy in 2004 and is responsible for developing and assessing investment opportunities, providing strategic management support and monitoring investments. Keven is a member of Argosy’s Investment Committee. Prior to joining Argosy, Keven was an Assistant Vice President in the Financial Services and Healthcare Group of GE Equity, the private equity arm of General Electric in Stamford, Connecticut. During his tenure at GE Equity, Keven invested over $75 million in many transactions in the financial services sector. He began his career at Furman Selz, a New York-based investment bank that was later bought by ING, where he spent five years in the Healthcare Group working on mergers and acquisitions, public equity offerings, high yield debt offerings and private placements. Keven earned his MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, where he graduated with Distinction and was an Edward Tuck Scholar. He earned his Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Applied Mathematics and Economics from Harvard College.