M&A Perspectives Breakfast

Image

REGISTER

Thursday, January 29, 2026
The Ritz-Carlton
8:00AM-10:00AM

Join ACG St. Louis back at the Ritz on Thursday, January 29th for the M&A Perspectives Breakfast. 

This event is open to all ACG members and guests.  Please include the breakfast as part of your DealSource registration if you would like to attend the Thursday meeting. If you only want to attend the breakfast on Thursday, please register here.

Please note that the Breakfast Meeting is on a Thursday with a later start time due to the DealSource events on the previous day. This serves as the January Monthly Meeting and is complimentary for ACG St. Louis members.

Thursday, January 29, 2025
M&A Perspectives Breakfast

Schedule:
8:00-8:30 AM | Coffee & Networking
8:30-9:00 AM | Breakfast
9:00-10:00 AM | Panel Presentation 

Pricing: 
ACG St. Louis Chapter Member | $0
ACG Member from Another Chapter | $50
Non-ACG Member/Guest | $75

--------------------------------------------

Speakers: 

Moderator
Brent Baxter
CEO, Association for Corporate Growth

Image

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.

Brent and his wife, Celeste, have two sons, and when he is not attending ACG events or board meetings, he enjoys traveling, reading and cooking, which he developed a passion for while working in an Italian restaurant in college.

Panelist 
Ashton Gillespie
Vice President, TM Capital

Image

Panelist 
Eric Derheimber
Managing Partner, CIDCapital

Image

Eric is Co-Managing Partner at CID Capital, a Lower-Middle Private Equity fund that has been based in Indianapolis since 1981. The team raised a $250M fund, the firm’s 12th overall, in September of 2024.

Along with the rest of the investment team, Eric has responsibility for selecting investment areas, identifying strong executives to work with in these areas, finding and making investments and working with management teams. He has a particular area of focus and expertise in managing growth through acquisitions. Eric currently leads the Boards of PDQ (physical/electronic security products), MWR (remediation), PWSG (Plumbing/Electrical Distribution) and Lettermen’s Energy (propane distribution). He has led over 20 transactions since the beginning of 2021.

Eric joined CID in early 2014, with increasing levels of responsibility since that time. Previous to CID, Eric was a Vice President in Greenhill & Co.’s Industrial Mergers and Acquisitions group in Chicago, where he worked with large industrial corporations to grow their businesses through acquisition. He previously worked in private equity investing for The Carlyle Group and in UBS’s Mergers and Acquisitions group.

Eric received an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BS from Indiana University, where he was a Kelley Scholar. He is an active contributor to student and alumni groups within the Kelley School of Business.

Eric resides in Carmel, IN with his family. While not in the office, Eric is an active “weekend warrior” with a special emphasis on coaching 10U and 14U travel softball. Contact Eric to discuss deals or learn what injury he is currently nursing.

Panelist 
Brian Salmo
Chief Operating Officer, Hermann Capital Management

Image

Brian Salmo is the Chief Operating Officer of Hermann Capital Management, a single-family office, where he focuses on sourcing and managing the firm’s investments. In addition, Brian oversees the accounting, legal, and tax functions of the firm. Before joining HCM, Brian was an executive at LMI Aerospace where he held a variety of roles, including General Counsel and Business Unit leader over a multi-site P&L. Brian began his career as a corporate attorney at Polsinelli PC where he helped clients through M&A, venture capital, and other complex transactions.