ACG Hosts Top Middle-Market Investment Conference

May 5, 2016: CHICAGO – The Association for Corporate Growth®, the global organization focused on driving middle-market growth, hosted its InterGrowth 2016 conference in New Orleans at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on May 2-4. InterGrowth attendees are M&A professionals who invest in the middle market, a vital part of the U.S. economy that includes 26.5 percent, or 48 million, of all US jobs. In 2015 alone, 71 percent of all private equity buyouts were middle-market deals and nearly half of deals were under $100 million dollars, according to PitchBook. 

"Serious deal-makers attend InterGrowth. For example, this year we had 663 representatives from capital providers and 887 from investment banks and advisers, as well as dozens of corporate leaders gathered together−making it an exceptional and highly efficient place to do business," said Les Alexander, partner at Jefferson Capital Partners and chairman of ACG InterGrowth 2016. "I was thrilled to host InterGrowth in my hometown and share how New Orleans is more than just incredible culture, food and music—it’s a thriving a city that is home to a growing number of innovative startups and strong private capital-backed companies." 

Louisiana boasts more than 310 companies that are backed by private equity, including Harvey Gulf International Marine, Shamrock Energy Services, MHM Urgent Care, and HRI Properties. Private equity-backed companies in the state grew jobs by 35 percent from 2007-2013, according to a study by GrowthEconomy.org, with energy investments attracting the most capital. Louisiana also attracted $6.4 billion in private equity investment Louisiana between 2003 and 2014. 

"Louisiana is a great place to invest. Holding the country’s premier middle-market M&A conference was a perfect fit for the Big Easy," said Gary A. LaBranche, president and CEO of ACG. "In addition, the city was the springboard for ACG’s first-ever community service project at an InterGrowth conference. ACG is honored to serve the New Orleans community and shine a light on deserving organizations like Clean the World. 

The partnership with Clean the World, a not-for-profit group with a mission to improve global hygiene by recycling used hotel soaps, shampoos and other sundries, and redistributing them to needy people in the United States and developing countries, was a resounding success, and ACG looks forward to exploring new opportunities at future InterGrowth conferences." 

Other programming highlights of InterGrowth 2016 included: 

• The Battle for the White House: Political Pundits Debate the 2016 Election, the panel discussion featured David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama, and Ana Navarro, CNN political analyst and GOP strategist.
• From Hal to Now: The Future of AI, Robotics and Biotech, a presentation by two leading futurists from Singularity University, a Silicon Valley think tank whose founders hail from Google and the X PRIZE Foundation. They explored the latest breakthroughs and provided an up-to-date look at the future of technology and how it will impact a variety of industries, complete with a live demo of the latest in robotics. 
• Middle-Market Insights Theater – Live from InterGrowth! New this year, InterGrowth presented a widely attended trio of hour-long sessions that were also live broadcast across the globe. These sessions were presented by Duane Morris LLP, Grant Thornton LLP and Merrill Corporation. 

InterGrowth 2017 will be held April 24-26, 2017, at the five-star, five-diamond ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. 

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About Association for Corporate Growth

Founded in 1954, ACG has 59 chapters across the globe. ACG’s worldwide network comprises 90,000 professionals within the middle market, including 14,500 members who serve as the investors, lenders, owners, executives and advisers to growing middle-market companies. ACG’s mission is to drive middle-market growth. For more information about ACG, please visit www.acg.org.