IT M&A: From Cadet to Top Gun in Four Hours

Wednesday, November 9, 2022 | 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Cogent Growth Partners' IT Nation Pre-conference Agenda

If you want to learn how to speed your growth, or increase your company’s value, join Cogent Growth Partners and our expert panelists for this in-depth half-day session. We’ve assembled an esteemed group of IT business owners who have all been both Sellers and Buyers, so that we can explore complex issues from both sides of the table and help you learn what really matters most before and after a deal. Attendees will better understand what goes on behind the scenes in virtually every IT M&A deal and why that matters to you, and you’ll have ample opportunity to engage the panelists as they share their insider know-how and insights.

Who Should Attend this Event?

If you own an IT Services company of any kind and want to better understand what you must do to maximize your value, or how to become an effective suitor that can successfully leverage acquisitive value, this immersive session is designed just for you.

Free Registration for IT Nation Registrants and Evolve Members Only

You’d expect to spend hundreds for this valuable information from other advisors but as the consulting firm that has done more M&A deals for ConnectWise users than any other, Cogent Growth Partners is proudly giving back to the ConnectWise community with this valuable and free event for IT Nation registrants or Evolve members only.

1:00 p.m. - 1:45.p.m.

How Not to Get it Wrong

Before we hear from our first panel of M&A veterans, we’ll take attendees through a fast-paced ground school of the things you should not be doing while running your IT business that are hurting your value, as well as what you should be doing now and always to help improve your value and ultimate success. Whether you’re a buyer type or thinking of selling, the same concepts hold true for everyone.

Speaker:

Bruce Teichman
Executive Vice President and Partner
Cogent Growth Partners

1:45 p.m. - 3:00.p.m.

Panel discussion: Due Diligence is Crucial to Value: Insights from Both Sides of the Table

Get an expert view of the material presented in the first session, and how that relates to the critical nature of due diligence before and after the Letter of Intent (LOI) is tabled, and the effects that might have on a prospective transaction from both a seller’s and buyer’s perspective. Dedicated time for Q&A with our panelists; attendees: bring your biggest asks!

Panelists:

David Hafke
CEO
Fairdinkum Consulting

Bruce Nelson
CEO
Vertilocity

Daniel Petersen
CEO
Applied Tech Solutions

Ramsey Sahyoun
Co-founder and Head of M&A
Evergreen Services Group

Christopher Vollmond Carstens (CVC)
VP Corporate Development
Ntiva

Patrick Wiley
CEO
Aldridge

Moderator:

Rick Murphy
CEO & Managing Partner
Cogent Growth Partners

3:00 p.m. -3:45.p.m.

Value isn’t About the Multiple

As we commence with flight school training, we’ll build upon the foundation laid down in the first half of the afternoon, and tie that to a much deeper understanding of how value is developed and realized, but in more granular detail. This will help you better understand the quantitative realities that are at the heart of all IT M&A deals (but often misunderstood and poorly communicated) and sets the stage for grasping how qualitative thinking works in an IT deal (on both sides), and why that matters to everyone in the deal. Again, whether you’re thinking about becoming a buyer, recapitalizing, or pondering when to sell and why, this information is universal to all players.

Speaker:

George Sierchio
Executive Vice President and Senior Partner
Cogent Growth Partners

3:45 p.m. - 5:00.p.m.

Panel discussion: Value vs. Valuation: Can You Handle the Truth?

We’ll be discussing topics from the second session, and how that relates to the myriad concepts of value (real and imagined) and how that thinking positively and negatively affects valuation from both the seller’s and the buyer’s perspective. Once again there will be dedicated time for Q&A; rewards for attendees with the toughest valuation questions.