New to M&A strategy for achieving your strategic objectives, and ready to build a strong knowledge base in just one day? Add AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Essentials Workshop to your AEC M&A Summit registration, or choose to just attend this one-day update on best practices and core success principles.
Register now using the AEC M&A Summit registration portal.
In today's robust M&A climate, whether you're buying or selling, it's too easy to make a million-dollar mistake.
PSMJ's AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Essentials pre-conference workshop teaches architecture and engineering firm executives how to make smarter decisions and drive better deals... based on actual transactions that are happening right now in today's market conditions.
Add this one-day foundations program to your AEC M&A Summit registration for a fast and effective primer on the core principles driving the most successful transactions. You'll build your confidence, learn how the best deals come together, hear war stories about unexpected pitfalls, and get the guidance you need to execute a merger, firm sale, or acquisition that achieves goals.
More than a seminar, this 6-hour workshop delivers an equal mix of learning and doing to keep you engaged from start to finish. It's packed with case studies, exercises, and data on valuations and structures from real M&A deals, and facilitated by a seasoned expert who has advised both buyers and sellers in dozens of AEC transactions.
Whether on the buy side or the sell side, entering into a merger or acquisition can be a very risky bet. Even a seemingly small oversight or error in judgement can lead to a catastrophically expensive mistake.
That's why every minute of AEC Mergers & Acquisitions Essentials Workshop focuses on the latest strategies for structuring win-win transactions… from assessing valuations and finding the right counter party all the way to implementing a successful integration.
Key Takeaways
- How changing market conditions are impacting AEC transactions
- What buyers REALLY look for in a seller
- How sellers can negotiate a more favorable valuation and deal terms, and save time
- Find buyers without letting anyone know the firm is for sale
- How to quickly separate high-quality sellers from sinking ships
- When to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement and terms to watch for
- Strategies to keep discussions moving and to avoid stalled deals
- Key early signs that it isn’t going to work
- How to move from discussions to negotiations to agreement
- Easy ways to avoid overpaying or leaving money on the table
- Proven strategies to bridge a valuation gap… and when to walk away
- Sharpen your skills with a hands-on valuation and negotiation exercise
- When is the time right to draft a Letter of Intent?
- Examples of actual LOIs and what goes into them
- What should be binding and what should be non-binding in an LOI?
- The biggest blind spot in due diligence… and how to avoid it
- How to deal with problems discovered in due diligence
- How to keep running your business when a buyer is conducting due-diligence
- Why deals fall apart after the LOI
- What goes into getting the deal closed and what you can’t afford to overlook
- How to make the big announcement to clients and employees
- Real examples of successful and comprehensive acquisition integration plans.
Your Coaches
Karl Wohler
Karl Wohler provides advisory support to the mergers and acquisitions, valuation, and ownership transition practices at PSMJ. His diverse experience in operations management, finance, M&A deal structuring, and process management provides him with a unique perspective to assist architecture and engineering firm leaders in developing effective growth, transition, and exit strategies.
Karl began his career as a chemical engineer at Polaroid Corporation and then advanced to senior director of film manufacturing and corporate program manager in research & development. His first exposure to mergers and acquisitions came when he managed several plant consolidation and divestiture projects.
Over the past 15 years, Karl has built deep experience in mergers and acquisitions, which includes a range of consulting advisory engagements as well as his roles as the corporate head of M&A for Bowne & Co., a $1 billion financial service content management company, and as the owner and CEO of a 150‐employee printing company.
Karl has also provided project financing advisory support to several large real estate development and restructuring projects including Melrose on the Beach in South Carolina and Titanic‐Pigeon Forge in Tennessee.
As a strategy and business development consultant at Emergence Consulting, Karl provided growth strategy consulting and M&A advisory support to Chargeurs, a French manufacturing conglomerate, and DuPont’s global polyester manufacturing business. He also developed a divestiture and privatization plan for a $300 million division of Philips Electronics North America.
As a business owner, consultant, and corporate M&A leader, Karl developed strategy and end‐to‐end managed buy‐side and sell‐side M&A deals ranging in size from $1 million to more than $100 million.
Karl holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a master’s degree in business administration from Babson College.
Mitchell Mafra
Mitchell is an M&A Advisor at PSMJ Resources where he is focused on performing valuations and providing advisory services for both their sell-side and buy-side clients. He has a proven track record working over 20 M&A deals in the A/E/C space which includes deals with publicly traded A&E firms, private equity, family office, and various strategic buyers.
As a member of the M&A Advisory Practice at PSMJ, Mitchell has been a contributor to the M&A Insider publication, as well as a contributor to the M&A Essentials program, an educational program for firm owners. Further, he teaches the M&A process at the M&A Essentials Workshop for owners.
Prior to joining PSMJ in 2021, Mitchell worked at Adage Capital Management, L.P., a major hedge fund in Boston with over $44B in assets under management with a focus on industrial and energy sectors.
Mitchell’s strong academic foundation is evident in his dual degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He holds a B.S. in Management with a Finance Concentration and a B.A. in Economics.
Mike Matthews
Mike is a Senior Consultant with PSMJ where he provides consulting and training services on the subjects of strategic planning, ownership transition, and mergers & acquisitions.
He served for almost 20 years as a CEO of an A/E firm, which grew under his leadership from $4 million to over $40 million, while overseeing multiple acquisitions for the firm before guiding the firm’s successful sale to a $3.7 billion conglomerate. He followed the A/E firm sale by working as the CFO for a 120-person IT services firm. He culminated his C-suite career as the President and COO of a $40 million, 320-person geotechnical/environmental/testing firm with approximately 280 staff reporting under his leadership.
In addition to Mike’s formal business education, he developed and taught an MBA class at University of Richmond entitled Professional Services Management. His other instructional engagements have included guest lectures at numerous universities, industry conference presentations, and participation as an expert panelist on a variety of topics.
After serving for two years on the national executive committee for the American Council of Engineering Companies, Mike was recognized by the organization as a fellow. Mike’s other recognitions have included the McCabe Leadership Award from the Virginia Council of CEOs, Engineer of the year from the Richmond (Virginia) Joint Engineers’ Council, Distinguished Alumnus award from Old Dominion University, and the Secretary’s Certificate of Recognition from Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright for his efforts after the bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. Mike has been published twice in CE News Magazine and has been a contributor to industry newsletters, including PSMJ.
Mike received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Old Dominion University, his MBA from the University of Richmond, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Regent University focusing on Organizational Leadership.