Webinar: The Private Equity Advantage: What 15 Years of Middle Market Data Reveals

What can 15 years of data tell us about the companies at the heart of middle-market M&A and the investors and advisors helping them grow?

In recognition of National Middle Market Week, ACG members are invited to an exclusive conversation with Doug Farren, Executive Director of the National Center for the Middle Market at The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business.

Farren will join ACG CEO Brent Baxter for a fireside chat examining businesses with $10 million to $1 billion in annual revenue and what the Center’s research reveals about their performance, priorities and challenges.

Drawing from the Center’s 15-year retrospective, its Middle Market Indicator and research on private equity ownership, the conversation will offer insights for business leaders, private equity firms and M&A advisors working with companies of this size.
 

The conversation will explore:

• 15 years of company performance and how businesses have navigated changing economic cycles
• The priorities and challenges facing companies today, including talent, access to capital, innovation and expansion
• The private equity advantage, including data showing stronger revenue and employment growth among PE-backed businesses
• Implications for the M&A ecosystem and the investors, lenders and advisors supporting these companies

Please note: Registration for this webinar is limited to current ACG members and active GF Data subscribers.

About Doug Farren:

Doug Farren joined The Ohio State University Fisher College of Business after an 11-year career at Limited Brands, where he most recently served as senior manager of supply chain planning. His responsibilities included developing the supply chain network and planning/allocation functionality for inventory to support three distinct international store channels.

Farren started with Limited Brands as a summer intern while completing his MBA in Operations and Logistics Management at Fisher. Farren’s previous experience includes work for Six Sigma Qualtec, a process improvement consulting firm based on Scottsdale, Arizona. His primary functions included marketing strategy, new client relationships, and on-site training and implementation. As part of his responsibilities, he was certified in 1998 as a Six Sigma Black Belt in Transactional Quality. 

About Brent Baxter:

As Chief Executive Officer at ACG, Brent oversees all aspects of the organization's operations and plans for strategic growth. He has a long career in middle market M&A, with more than 25 years of sell-side and buy-side advisory experience, closing more than 200 transactions with a combined value of more than $1 billion. He also has a long and dedicated history supporting ACG in a volunteer capacity, serving in multiple positions on the ACG Board of Directors, and was recently honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 DealMAX event.

Brent has been an active participant in numerous chapter leadership events for 20+ years, forming deep connections with ACG's chapter network. He has attended more than 250 ACG events throughout the U.S. and has been a key member of his local ACG St. Louis chapter, serving in multiple positions including Board President, Membership Chair, Chair of the Corporate Peer Group, as well as Chair of a key multi-chapter Midwest event, the Growth Conference.

Immediately before joining ACG, Brent served as Managing Director at Nolan & Associates, a leading boutique investment banking firm with a focus on the middle market. Prior to joining Nolan, Brent spent 18 years as Managing Director of a St. Louis independent investment bank. He also has extensive experience growing private companies through acquisitions, serving as CEO of a food manufacturing company that more than quadrupled its sales in eight years, and continuing to serve on the boards of several privately held companies.