Founding Partner, Michael Carter and Partner, Terry Hannafin attended the bi-annual meeting of Alliance of International Corporate Advisors (“AICA”) in Chicago, IL.
Carter Morse & Goodrich is a founding member (since 2009) of AICA, an international network of 41 like-minded boutique investment banks with offices in 39 countries providing M&A advisory services to assist clients with cross-border business sales and divestitures, mergers, acquisitions, and capital raises.
AICA firms meet twice each year to discuss M&A trends, best practices, industry knowledge, collaboration, employee development and strengthening relationships to build a better experience for each firm’s clients.
A few major themes amongst our affiliates were evident:
- Market recovery in 2024 is expected to continue into 2025: Despite a challenging 2023, many firms are seeing a strong recovery in 2024, with notable transactions in industries like manufacturing, facilities services, tech, financial services, and energy. Several firms are expanding their teams and offices to accommodate growth.
- Private equity dynamics: Private equity firms are holding off on exiting portfolio companies, creating a wait-and-see environment in some sectors. However, expectations are high for increased deal flow in 2025 as conditions stabilize.
- Challenges and Adaptations: Timelines for deal closures are stretching, and firms are adapting to longer processes, in some cases timelines have extended to 12+ months from an average of 6.5 months just a few years earlier. (Rationale: market uncertainty, tighter financing conditions, extended buyer diligence, higher valuation gaps)
Lastly, AICA welcomed a new member headquartered in Bogata, Columbia. MD Banca de Inversión, is a leading financial advisor for middle-market transactions across a wide variety of sectors in several Latin American countries.