The 2018 Deal Maker Award Winners Have Been Announced

Northeast Ohio’s Leading Deal Makers to be Honored on January 25, 2018

ACG Cleveland, Northeast Ohio’s leading organization for merger and acquisition and corporate growth professionals, will recognize the winners of its 22nd Annual Deal Maker Awards on Thursday, January 25, 2018, at 5:30 p.m. at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown.

The Deal Maker Awards are a tribute to Northeast Ohio’s preeminent corporate deal makers for their accomplishments in using acquisitions, divestitures, financings, and other transactions to fuel sustainable growth. The 2018 winners are:

Parker Hannifin Corporation (Deal of the Year)

Parker Hannifin is a global manufacturer of motion and control technologies and systems. In 2017, the company completed its largest transaction ever with the acquisition of filtration products manufacturer CLARCOR, Inc. It acquired CLARCOR for $4.3 billion in cash, including the assumption of net debt. The strategic transaction creates a combined organization with a comprehensive portfolio of filtration products and technologies. It can offer customers a single, streamlined source for all of their purification and separation needs. The transaction is expected to be accretive to Parker’s earnings, after adjusting for one-time costs.

Nordson Corporation (Public Company Category)

With operations in more than 30 countries, Nordson is the leader in precision dispensing, fluid management, and related technologies. Since August 2014, the company has completed 10 strategic acquisitions, which added nearly $300 million in top line growth, strong EBITDA margins, differentiated technologies, and nearly 1,500 employees. In 2017 alone, it made four acquisitions, including ACE Production Technologies, InterSelect GmbH, Plas-Pak Industries, Inc., and Vention Medical Advanced Technologies.

Park Place Technologies (Private Company Category)

Park Place Technologies is a global leader in third-party hardware maintenance and service. It provides an alternative to post-warranty storage, server, and networking hardware maintenance for IT data centers. Acquisitions have played an important role in Park Place’s rapid growth. Over the past year, the company has made six acquisitions, enabling it to increase its client base, broaden service offerings, improve customer support, streamline operations, and expand its geographic reach both domestically and in international markets.

Karen Tuleta, MPE Partners (Women in Transactions Deal Maker of the Year)

Karen Tuleta is a partner with MPE Partners and has been with the firm (including its predecessor, Morgenthaler Private Equity) since 1995. She serves on all transaction deal teams and works closely with the firm’s portfolio companies to help drive their growth. Tuleta has more than 25 years of corporate finance experience and has been involved in over 60 transactions over the course of her career. She has served on the local and global ACG boards and is currently on the ACG InterGrowth Task Force Committee. Beyond her aptitude for transactions, she has been a helpful mentor to many women in the deal-making community, helping them to further their careers.