Latest Podcast Episode

Peter Cook | Why Transparency is the Key to Success
In this episode, I’m joined by Peter Cook of Everingham & Kerr, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that specializes in providing intermediary services for lower-middle market companies and entrepreneurs. Peter will share his philosophy around transparency and will also discuss: Mentioned in this episode: Transcript Patrick Stroth: Hello there. I’m Patrick Stroth, trusted authority in executive and transactional liability and founder of Rubicon M&A Insurance Services, now a proud member of the Liberty Company Insurance Broker Network. Welcome to M&A Masters where I speak with the leading experts in mergers and acquisitions, and we’re all about one thing here. That’s a clean exit for owners, founders and their investors. Today I’m joined by Peter Cook, Director of Everingham & Kerr. Founded in 1988, Everingham & Kerr is a merger and acquisition advisory firm that specializes in providing intermediary services for lower-middle market companies and entrepreneurs. And if anybody has been lucky enough to be on Everingham & Kerr’s feed showing their activity, they are prolifically active in the lower middle market M&A space. So it’s a real treat to have you. Peter, thanks for joining me today. Peter Cook: Thanks so much, Patrick. Appreciate it. Patrick: Now, before we get into Everingham & Kerr and just this voluminous amount of work that you guys are doing, let’s start with you. How did you get to this point in your career? Peter: Well, it’s been an interesting ride, Patrick. I started out as an attorney, way back when, and practiced for about five years. Was a member of the New Jersey Bar, and really was disenchanted with what I was doing. It wasn’t very exciting for me. And lo and behold, went to a Christmas party met somebody that was a big investor in a startup company in the mid 90s. And very shortly
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Notable M&A Trends to Watch Out for in 2023
When the world’s largest transactional insurance broker talks… you listen. I’m talking about Marsh McLennan, a Fortune 500 firm with a global reach that wrote more than 1,000 Representation and Warranty (R&W) insurance policies in 2022. Their Transactional Risk Insurance 2022: Year in Review report is an excellent resource for anyone involved in M&A, as well as the specialized insurance products like R&W that have become essential to deal-making. It’s a report worth taking a close look at…because in addition to reporting on trends from the past year… they are also looking ahead and forecasting what they believe will happen

The Biggest Danger to M&A Sellers – and How to Avoid it
I got a call earlier today… one that I wasn’t exactly happy to receive. But I feel like I should share the situation that I learned about because it showcases the importance of transactional liability insurance to cover M&A transactions. Here’s the situation… The caller had sold their industrial supply company in the Midwest for just about $3.5M. But, as the deal neared close, additional inventory, not initially part of the deal, was discovered. Buyer and Seller agreed that this inventory was worth $150,000. And the Buyer suggested that they would pay the Seller in installments of $10,000 over 15
Latest Podcasts

Peter Cook | Why Transparency is the Key to Success
In this episode, I’m joined by Peter Cook of Everingham & Kerr, a mergers and acquisitions advisory firm that specializes in providing intermediary services for lower-middle market companies and entrepreneurs. Peter will share his philosophy around transparency and will also discuss: Mentioned in this episode: Transcript Patrick Stroth: Hello there. I’m Patrick Stroth, trusted authority in executive and transactional liability and founder of Rubicon M&A Insurance Services, now a proud member of the Liberty Company Insurance Broker Network. Welcome to M&A Masters where I speak with the leading experts in mergers and acquisitions, and we’re all about one thing here. That’s a clean exit for owners, founders and their investors. Today I’m joined by Peter Cook, Director of Everingham & Kerr. Founded in 1988, Everingham & Kerr is a merger and acquisition advisory firm that specializes in providing intermediary services for lower-middle market companies and entrepreneurs. And if anybody has been lucky enough to be on Everingham & Kerr’s feed showing their activity, they are prolifically active in the lower middle market M&A space. So it’s a real treat to have you. Peter, thanks for joining me today. Peter Cook: Thanks so much, Patrick. Appreciate it. Patrick: Now, before we get into Everingham & Kerr and just this voluminous amount of work that you guys are doing, let’s start with you. How did you get to this point in your career? Peter: Well, it’s been an interesting ride, Patrick. I started out as an attorney, way back when, and practiced for about five years. Was a member of the New Jersey Bar, and really was disenchanted with what I was doing. It wasn’t very exciting for me. And lo and behold, went to a Christmas party met somebody that was a big investor in a startup company in the mid 90s. And very shortly

Doug McCormick | How can M&A Masters tap into the power of human capital?
In this episode, I’m joined by Doug McCormick, Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of HCI Equity Partners. He’ll give an inside look at his firm, which partners with family and founder-owned manufacturing, services, and distribution companies in the lower middle market. Doug will break down his firm’s unique strategy that transforms businesses through 3 initiatives. He’ll also share: Why human capital is a gamechanger How his firm’s history has shaped its strategy Why building a team is an art, not a science Insights about helping business owners build legacies And more Mentioned in this episode: https://www.hciequity.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/douglasmccormick/ Transcript Patrick Stroth: Hello there. I’m Patrick Stroth, trusted authority in executive and transactional liability and founder of Rubicon M&A Insurance Services. Now a proud member of the Liberty Company Insurance Broker Network. Welcome to M&A Masters where I speak with the leading experts in mergers and acquisitions. And we’re all about one thing here. That’s a clean exit for owners, founders and their investors. Today, I’m joined by Doug McCormick, managing partner and chief investment officer of HCI Equity Partners. Based in Washington, DC, HCI Equity Partners is a lower middle market private equity firm focused on partnering with family and founder-owned manufacturing services and distribution companies. And Doug it’s a great pleasure to have you. This is a much celebrated HCI Equity. Welcome to the podcast today. Doug McCormick: Hey, thanks so much, Patrick. I appreciate you having me on. And I look forward to the discussion. Patrick: Fantastic. Well, now, before we get into HCI Equity Partners, let’s set the table here with you. What brought you to this point in your career? Doug: Sure, sure. So first of all, I’ve been in the private equity industry for a little more than 20 years. I think, like many of your other guests, my
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Jamar Freeman | Build a Market-Leading Company
What does it take to be an M&A Master for the IT and cybersecurity industries? Jamar Freeman of Moonshot Equity Partners is here to share his firm’s holistic approach to acquiring and building market-leading companies.

Jeffrey Brooker | An Inside Look at the Independent Sponsor Conference
If you’re an independent sponsor or a capital provider, you won’t want to miss the upcoming Independent Sponsor Conference… Featuring one-on-one networking meetings with people hand-selected to match you… This is an unbeatable opportunity to connect with someone and lay the groundwork for deals… In this episode, Jeffrey Brooker, an organizer of the conference, is here to give you all the details on what to expect. Jeffrey also gives insight into the role of an independent sponsor and how it differs from private equity.

Think of Insurance as a War Chest
You know about the drama with Elon Musk and Twitter. Lawsuits are flying back and forth, with both sides alleging breach of contract after Musk declined to buy the social media giant. For super-billionaires like Musk and multi-billion-dollar companies like Twitter, they have the millions needed for such drama. Money is no object. But most of us don’t have that kind of cash. That means when something goes south during a liquidity event, you need to have the proper insurance coverage in place – and proper level. But I propose that you should think about this insurance as more than

The Next Evolution in Representations and Warranty Insurance
An exciting innovation is coming to Representations and Warranty insurance world, and if you’re a Buyer or Seller in the lower middle market, you need to know about it. This new product is especially useful to serial acquirers. In short: insurtech is coming to M&A… sort of.

M&A Trends for the Rest of 2022 and into 2023
Inflation, a rise in interest rates, and global unrest and uncertainty represent some serious headwinds for the economy right now. But the consensus, from my sources in the M&A world is that dealmaking for the lower middle market has not faltered and will not falter going into the next year. Granted there has been a decrease in the pace of M&A activity when you compare 2022 to 2021, but that’s not a far comparison, as last year we saw record-breaking deal-making thanks to pent-up demand for deals as we emerged from the pandemic. As PricewaterhouseCoopers put it in their Deals

Chris Parisi | Why M&A Isn’t About the Numbers
M&A is never just about chasing numbers…. It’s about the people who trust you with their business… A business that represents generations of hard work—and a family’s legacy. My guest Chris Parisi knows this well. At Carl Marks Advisors, which has been around since 1925, Chris secures clean exits for lower middle market business owners. In this episode, Chris shares some of Carl Marks Advisors’ storied history and reveals how he fights for the best outcomes for his clients.

TLPE Insurance and Non-Disclosure Policies
Transaction Liability Private Enterprise insurance (TLPE) is taking the lower middle market M&A world by storm. Unlike traditional R&W insurance, TLPE is a Sell-Side policy where the Seller, rather than the Buyer, is the policyholder. The policy is triggered when the Buyer makes a claim against the Seller. Instead of going after the Seller directly, the Buyer simply collects from the insurer. Sellers benefit from this insurance as well, with TLPE effectively reducing escrow levels in deals from 10% to 1% of the purchase price. (The cost of TLPE is only $10,000 to $20,000 per $1M in Limits.) You can

Sean Frank | An Expert Investor on Cloud-Based Infrastructure
Cloud-based infrastructure is one of the most rapidly expanding industries today… And this episode’s guest, Sean Frank, is an expert on it. As the founder of Cloud Equity Group, Sean invests in lower middle market companies in the web hosting and cloud-based infrastructure sectors.