Trident M&A Advisors Quarterly Newsletter

Trident Expands to Munich, Germany

2024 started off with a bang! The fastest start in our 16 year history with exciting sell side and buy side engagements and opportunities. These include various industries such as manufacturing, business services, “martech”, and retail.

Additionally, we are thrilled to announce the opening of an office in Munich, Germany. The office is headed by Frank Anisits who will oversee Trident’s operations in continental Europe and the UK. Opening the Munich office expands Trident's footprint to attract larger transactions, with greater scope, and a global outlook; as we move from a domestic to an international player in M&A advisory.

Besides expanding European business, Frank supports Trident's projects in North America as a subject matter expert in manufacturing. Frank brings an extensive knowledge base in the automotive industry where he worked in various executive positions for the last 25 years.

Industry Focus - 2024

Trident felt the same pain in 2023 as many in the industry. The great news is that we are off to our fastest start since 2008. Trident M&A Advisors started 2024 with 5 signed engagements and 3 additional companies soon to be engaged in a variety of industries; wire manufacturing, ice cream manufacturing and retail, digital marketing agency, friction welding, and outsourced civil engineering to mention a few. We find that business owners are very wary of inflation, cost of capital, and proposed regulation, and as a result are ready to take the next steps. 

If you own a business services, manufacturing, or distribution company with $3+m or more in EBITDA, it would be beneficial to schedule an introductory visit with the Trident team. We have developed proprietary, tech-enabled tools to determine valuation ranges quickly, accurately, and incorporate buy-side market economics.

Contact Henry Ennis today @ (972) 567-5597 or [email protected] for a complimentary assessment of your business.   

Q1 2024 Mid-market Performance and Outlook

After a disappointing second half in 2023, the M&A market has rebounded in early 2024. Trident experienced its busiest Q1 to date, right out of the gate in 2024. We have 5 open deals and expect to close one in the first quarter. Dealmaking has returned with renewed optimism in 2024 with an acceleration in Private Equity’s appetite to close.

Exit activity also rebounded amid a flurry of continuing fund transactions in the middle-market space. It’s a trend that’s likely to continue given strong fundraising by secondary buyers. 

Left over investments in 2023 that did not materialize have created a cash glut. According to Pitchbook, Private Equity funds targeting the middle market had a solid fundraising year in 2023. Their ability to return more capital to investors than mega-funds, helped middle-market firms gain an upper hand in the race to build up their war chests. “In 2023, funds collected were $141.1 billion, the second-highest annual fundraising sum on record; it was only surpassed by 2019’s peak of $154.3 billion.”

To conclude with a selection from ever-conservative KPMG’s M&A Landscape for 2024 publication corroborating the general outlook above.

“The 2024 outlook for the Financial Service (FS) M&A landscape is generally optimistic. An anticipated improvement in the interest-rate environment should support deal-making across various FS subsectors. Additionally, private equity has seen an increase in its share of total FS volume. 

Within the three main FS subsectors—capital markets, banking, and insurance—expectations for 2024 M&A activity vary. Capital markets may rebound due to potential improvements in interest rates. Insurance continues to focus on strategic consolidation and transformative deals. Banking faces challenges from high interest rates, regulatory uncertainty, and presidential election concerns which could further dampen overall M&A activity.”

All in all 2024 looks to be a good recovery year for M&A in the mid-market. To further discuss M&A outlook in your industry - get in touch with Trident ASAP.

Team Spotlight: Head of Finance and Analytics - Tonya Morgan

Tonya joined Trident two years ago as head of finance.  She has 25 years of experience holding leadership roles with CPG, business services and SaaS companies. She started her career at Chef America (Hot Pockets) as a senior analyst and worked her way up to a Vice President of Finance at Infor leading the global SaaS financial management team.  She contributed to numerous successful acquisitions and integrations while at Infor aiding in the 96%, 5-year CAGR that the SaaS business experienced.  She also participated in successful exits, capital raises and restructurings working with private equity owned companies.  Before moving to M&A full-time Tonya’s last corporate role was as a CFO and as a fractional CFO.  She has a keen understanding of operations, M&A, financial reporting, and systems.

Tonya earned Masters and BS degrees in Finance from the University of Denver. She is also an accomplished & published gourmet cook.  Tonya lives in Charleston, SC with her husband.

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