Anatomy of a Deal: Mergers and Acquisitions for the Family Business

We addressed personal growth through failure in Q1, overcoming adversity in Q2, and now it is time to look at the big picture. The third installation of the 2019 Event Series on Growth will focus on growing a business through mergers and acquisitions.
Through stories of M&A from the family business perspective, we will be exploring the opportunities and challenges on both the buy and sell sides. The goal is to provide attendees with actionable frameworks that can be applied during M&A activity.
The format of this program will give an overview of the basics of M&A, two family business perspectives, and a panel discussion with family business and legal professional representation to dig into what really goes down when making a deal. 

Speakers:
Matthew Allard: Partner, Brightstar Capital Partners
Matthew Allard was born and raised in Grand Rapids and maintains deep family and professional ties across western Michigan.  He is a passionate Wolverine fan, having graduated from the University of Michigan with degree in Engineering. Matt is a Partner at Brightstar Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on investing in closely held, family-owned middle market businesses. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Board of QualTek and as a Board member of Texas Water Supply Company, both Brightstar portfolio companies.
Prior to joining Brightstar, Matt was Head of Financial Sponsors at Stifel where he was responsible for leading the firm’s Private Equity client coverage and execution efforts, was a member of the Investment Bank Management Committee and had extensive merger & acquisition, capital markets and relationship management experience across a range of industries. Matt started his finance career with Citi and Bank of America, and previously held positions in both consulting and operations. Matt received his MBA from Columbia Business School, Beta Gamma Sigma honors, and a BSE with a major in Industrial and Operations Engineering at Michigan. He is a Trustee of the King School in Connecticut.
 
Matt Kruer: Director of Senior Development, BISSELL, Inc.
Matt Kruer is an investment professional who currently leads mergers & acquisitions efforts at BISSELL, Inc.  Matt also supports the BISSELL family in their family office investing activities.  Prior to joining BISSELL, Matt worked in Chicago for 8 years in various investment and advisory roles where he executed middle-market transactions across the consumer products, retail, and real estate industries.
Matt holds an BBA in financing and accounting from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Cornell University.
Matt is married to Alissandra and spends most of his free time chasing around his three children.  Matt also enjoys playing tennis and basketball and is a long-suffering Detroit sports fan.


Doug Van Eerden: Van Eerden Food Service
Doug Van Eerden is Vice President of Van Eerden Foodservice, a 4th generation family-owned business based in Grand Rapids.   Founded in 1920, Van Eerden Foodservice distributes food products and supplies to restaurants, schools and universities, and national chain accounts throughout the Midwest.  Van Eerden Trucking, a sister company to Van Eerden Foodservice, started in 1980, is a long haul trucking company which operates over 150 semi-trucks across 48 states. 
In 2013, Van Eerden initiated a long term strategic plan to supplement their organic growth strategy with strategic acquisitions to further drive growth, expand product mix, and diversify its customer base through M&A.  Since undertaking that initiative, Van Eerden has strategically acquired four companies located in Michigan under four unique and varying scenarios.  Doug led the target company search, negotiation, and integration of these acquisitions which includes Evans Foodservice in Flint,  Simon & Leeman Produce in Detroit, Frog Holler Produce in Ann Arbor, and most recently Preferred Produce in Detroit.  
Doug will be speaking on the unique strategic opportunities that each of these acquisitions offered to Van Eerden, navigating pre-closing due diligence and negotiations, as well as the various challenges of the most vital component of any strategic acquisition’s success or failure – post-closing integration and operations.
Prior to joining the family business in 2010, Doug graduated from Hope College and worked 2 years at KPMG in Chicago in the Transaction Services division, conducting M&A Due Diligence on behalf of strategic and private equity clients.  After joining Van Eerden in 2010, Doug spent time in purchasing, finance, operations, and now, as Vice President, is responsible for strategic planning and initiatives for Van Eerden Foodservice and oversees its produce subsidiary companies Frog Holler Produce in Ann Arbor and Preferred Produce in Detroit.

Panelists

  ​                                                      
      Max Barnes                                         Dan Fuller                                        Mike Chaffin
    Miller Johnson                                          BDO                                           Fifth Third Bank
 

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Join us on September 17th for a deep dive session into the process of M&A for family businesses. This event will be presented and hosted by Varnum LLP.  Whether your family is actively considering a M&A deal or you want to be informed for the future, this zoned in session is perfect for you. 

This is a member only event. As it is designed to be a small session, registration is limited. Register for this deep dive by selecting it as an add on option while registering for the September 11th event.