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Discover Unity Partners’ Recipe for Long-Term Success
Are you ready to dive into the strategies behind building thriving businesses and impactful partnerships? Discover how partnering with the right leaders can transform companies and markets. In this episode, John Block, co-founder and CEO of Unity Partners, takes us through his fascinating journey from childhood aspirations to leading a game-changing firm that builds better businesses together. In this episode, you’ll discover… Why John chose the name “Unity Partners” for his firm The secret mantra that drives Unity Partners’ success How foundational principles can propel business growth Strategies for reducing uncertainty in business success The impact of technology on smaller market investments And more Mentioned in this episode: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnablock/ https://unitypartnerslp.com/ 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 John Block, co-founder and CEO of Unity Partners. Unity Partners is a principal space middle market private equity firm, that partners investors and operators to build better together. So I’m really excited to have you. John, welcome to the show. John Block: Thank you, Patrick, excited to be here with you. Patrick: Now before we get into Unity Partners and building better together, let’s start with you. Can you share with us what brought you to this point in your career? John: That’s a great question. I do love to start with that question. I think it’s important to set the table and go back from the beginning. If I think of my experience said, If I think back to childhood,
Deal Trends in 2023 So Far and the Potential Slow Down
Since the end of the pandemic, many in the deal-making community have been waiting for news of a slowdown in M&A activity. And that time has come, although the news is not dire, for several reasons I’ll go into in just a moment…and the deal-makers I’ve spoken to remain upbeat and positive too. But, in black and white, there has been a slowdown from the end of 2022 into the beginning of 2023. According to the Firmex Deal Flow Bulletin for Q2 2023, the numbers of deals in North America was only 1% lower than Q4 in 2022. And then
The Insurance That Protects Your Business From Cyber Crime
We’ve all been notified by a company we patronize that our personally identifiable information (PII) has been hacked. It can be a real headache for us customers. (PII can include customer names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, credit card numbers, bank information, and more. In the case of healthcare businesses, add medical records to the list.) But when you’re the business that has been hacked, there can also be tremendous impacts. This apparent breach of trust can cause customers to take their business elsewhere, for one, which can affect the bottom-line.But more importantly for the hacked business,
A New Seller Fraud Policy for Buyers in Lower Middle Market M&A Deals
One of the main risks in M&A transactions is a so-called innocent, or accidental, misrepresentation. This is when a Seller makes an untrue statement about their company. They’re not doing it maliciously or “on purpose,” so it’s not fraud. Seems hard to believe, but in our quickly evolving regulatory environment, these issues can pop up more often than you think. But, in any case, even if not done intentionally, this misrepresentation is a big problem. Because… what the Seller said, and laid down in the Purchase and Sale Agreement, is not true. That means a misrepresentation like this can result
TLPE Insurance – A Must-Have for Lower Middle Market M&A Transactions
If you’re involved in lower middle market M&A, you probably know that traditional, Buy-side Representations and Warranty (R&W) insurance is not available to cover most transactions because of their small size. However, in recent years, alternative transactional liability coverage has come onto the scene for deals under $20M: Transaction Liability Private Enterprise, or TLPE. TLPE is Sell-Side insurance. This means the Seller is the policyholder (unlike Buy-side R&W coverage where the Buyer is the policyholder). In case of a breach of the Seller representations in the Purchase and Sale Agreement, the Buyer makes a claim against the Seller. The Seller in
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
Why – and When – M&A Buyers Should Secure Sell-Side Transactional Liability Insurance
Let me say this loud and clear right now: Every Buyer of a sub-$30M EV target should insist on a sell-side Representations and Warranty (R&W) insurance policy from their counterparty. This might sound strange. And I know that you’ve probably encountered many Buyers who are reluctant or resistant to the idea of even considering a sell-side insurance policy. After all, the Buyer is not insured under this coverage. The name on the policy is the Seller’s. A sell-side policy is only triggered when the named insured (the Seller) receives a demand from the Buyer saying there has been a breach
A Close Look at Deal Drivers for 2023
When looking ahead at 2023, it’s clear there are economic headwinds out there impacting deal-making, including inflation and the threat of recession. Big tech companies are entering a period of austerity, with giants like Google and Microsoft laying off tens of thousands of employees recently. They over-hired during the pandemic, and they are now having layoffs. But I’d make the case that lower middle market M&A, especially with regards to tech, media, and telecommunications firms and business services companies, will see no slowdown in deals… In fact, there could very well be an increase in transactions in the coming year.