Lexington M&A Insights: Positioning for Market Opportunities
APRIL 24, 2024
9am-3:30pm
Buyers, sellers and advisors:
Learn about expectations for 2024 M&A market performance and gain insights into market opportunities.
MORNING
PRESENTATIONS
DEAN DORTON
250 West Main Street, Suite 1400
Lexington, KY 40507
9 a.m. - Arrival, meet and greet over coffee
10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. - M&A sessions
AFTERNOON
LUNCH, NETWORKING, RACING
THOROUGHBRED CLUB
and KEENELAND RACE COURSE
3555 Rice Rd, Lexington, KY 40510 (Parking)
1 p.m. - Arrival and networking at Thoroughbred Club (cash bar | dress code/jeans prohibited)
1:30 p.m. - Seated lunch buffet
Afternoon - Networking (cash bar) and racing at Thoroughbred Club and Keeneland
10:00 AM
How Tax and Estate Considerations are
Affecting Succession Planning in KY
Seth Lawless, Merrill Lynch
Many provisions of the 2015 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act expire at the end of 2025, including changes to the Combined Uniform Lifetime Estate Exemption and individual tax rates. As attorneys are meeting with larger clients in preparations of these changes, especially clients with medium-large sized illiquid businesses, this is driving succession planning discussions that will likely end in a wave of transactions in the next 18 months. Understanding the dynamics of this succession planning is important as it is a leading indicator of deal flow coming to market.
10:15 AM
Middle Market M&A trends in Central Kentucky
A 2023 Review and 2024 Outlook
David Hulett, CFAW
Corporate Finance Associates Managing Director David Hulett provides M&A transaction examples from the local market and provides insights from CFA global markets.
10:30 AM
What will M&A Tax Considerations look like in 2024?
John Herring, Dean Dorton
The discussion will center on federal income tax considerations for the M&A Sector for 2024 and the near future, including the impact of the sunsetting of certain estate tax provisions, plus considerations for valuation of closely-held entities in a changing interest rate environment.
10:45 AM
Deferred Purchase Price and What to Consider
Josh Stearns, Steptoe & Johnson
Andrew Smith, Steptoe & Johnson
Given market conditions, we are seeing deals close with less cash involved. Essentially, the cash at closing is being reduced in favor of higher deferred compensation, either in the form of earnouts or rollover equity. These forms of compensation involve many of their own issues—both at the time of the deal and later, as paid. We plan to discuss what buyers and sellers should be thinking about when structuring deferred compensation schemes from a legal perspective.
11:05 AM
Judging Risk Profiles and What it Means for Deal Makers
Brad Noel, Central Bank
While deal flow of M&A has increased year-over-year, traditional lending institution’s focus on building capital and liquidity to meet newly proposed requirements often means risk appetite for deal flow has in some cases, decreased. Considerations are being made to which relationships are desired or not as well as the carrying cost of riskier (i.e. leveraged) loans. We’ll explore what this means for deal makers, considerations for buyers and sellers, as well as opportunities for patient buyers.
11:20 AM
How the M&A Insurance Market is Gearing Up for 2024
Travis Anderkin, Houchens
The M&A Insurance market has been on a roller coaster ride the last 3 years. We saw a record number of submissions in 2021 and 2022, with a significant drop off in 2023. The insurance market is gearing up for more deals in 2024 and have the capacity to do get these transactions complete.
11:35 AM
Revolutionary HR M&A Trends for 2024 and Beyond
Michael Newman, Axis HR
We'll explore how HR is moving beyond traditional boundaries in the due diligence process to become a pivotal player in strategic decisions, discuss the critical importance of cultural integration in successfully merging entities, touch on innovative approaches to nurturing talent and capabilities in order to drive future growth, and finally, reveal how AI-driven HR decision-making tools and data analytics are reshaping HR applications in mergers and acquisitions.
11:50 AM
KEYNOTE - Navigating the 2024 M&A Landscape:
A Lower-Middle-Market M&A Outlook
Keith Carlson, Roebling Capital
The dealmaking landscape has experienced considerable turbulence in recent years. M&A volume reached unprecedented heights in 2021, with steep declines in subsequent years. Will 2024 return to the record-setting year of 2021 or mirror the subdued activity of 2023? We explore expectations for 2024’s outlook, which appears poised for a measured rebound and increased dealmaking activity, as both supply and demand dynamics are showing positive trends.
1:00 PM
Afternoon at The Thoroughbred Club
and Keeneland Race Course
Keeneland
Join fellow BLUEMAP attendees for the afternoon. Start at The Thoroughbred Club with networking (cash bar) and an elegant seated buffet lunch at 1:30 p.m. Then cheer on your winning horses within the Keeneland Spring Meet - either at the race course itself (shuttle available) or via flat-screen simulcast at the Club. Either ways, there are plentiful networking opportunities to keep you entertained.
