Corporate Development Spotlight

Spotlight Q&A:

Vince – Congratulations on your newly appointed role as Global Head of Corporate Development at Epicor!  Can you provide a quick flyover of your corporate development team and any insights on what you look to accomplish at Epicor:

Thank you, I’m excited to join an incredible team!  Currently, our team is relatively small for the size of our organization, but we utilize all the functional teams for both diligence and integration.  There is a dedicated functional lead on each team that drives all diligence and integration efforts, while Corporate Development manages the overall diligence and integration playbook and timeline.

Our key initiative is to supplement our overall organic growth with selected inorganic revenue growth on a consistent basis.  Therefore, our focus today is to build-out an M&A pipeline that has sufficient coverage to hit our annual inorganic revenue growth targets.  There is so much money chasing such few assets – sometimes 10 -15 bidders on a singular asset with multiples that are completely head scratching, thus, inbounds are very competitive and can chew up a tremendous amount of cycle time.  Given these current market dynamics, M&A pipe coverage has to be 2x more than previous coverage metrics, as win/loss ratios are out of whack compared to previous norms, especially, in auction led processes.

I believe in order to drive consistency, you need to have a repeatable process and playbook from origination to initial document request through post-closing activities.

Why did you choose a career in Corporate Development?

I began my early career in middle-market investment banking, therefore, Corporate Development was a natural extension after gaining valuable experience in M&A advisory.  Quite honestly, I wasn’t being completely fulfilled in investment banking – I didn’t feel like I was building anything.  Yes, I was assisting entrepreneurs and shareholders in monetizing their closely held investments, thus, building wealth, but I wanted to play a key role on a team in building sustainable growth in an operating asset.

Describe the evolution of the Corporate Development function:

The Corporate Development role continues to evolve – more strategic thinking is needed today versus just being a transaction-oriented role.  At the mid-point of my career, I felt I could be contributing more to an organization other than just being “the deal guy.”  Therefore, I took a step back and wondered how I could further contribute and become a more well-rounded and effective Corporate Development Lead.  I decided that gaining more hands-on operating experience was important to effectively comprehend and communicate with each of the functional team members for opportunity evaluation, diligence and the most critical element, integration. Thus, I sought out operating roles that ultimately provided me a complete view of what happens in the trenches – I ran North American operations for a European public-company; took on various roles in venture-backed companies; and wore the hats of the CFO, Alliances/Partnerships, Customer Success and even expanded my reach to carrying a sales bag (the most difficult function that’s the life blood of every company).  Given this experience, I’m able to think and visualize through the same lens as my functional team member colleagues to better our due diligence and integration process and effectiveness.

What are any best practices for hiring an effective Corporate Development team:

Given current market conditions, M&A pipeline is more critical than ever.  Therefore, in order to allocate the proper time to focus on continuous pipeline expansion, the overall team needs to encompass a Corporate Development Diligence Leader and an Integration Leader.  I believe these two roles should be interchangeable and a lead should be exposed to both roles to be a more well-rounded Corporate Development Lead.   I believe the team is more effective when there are team members that can wear both hats based upon past experience and skillsets.

What is your most memorable M&A story:

My most memorable story was earlier in my career when we acquired 6 companies in a period of 9 months, which in itself wasn’t the most memorable.  It was the fact that we went from 180 team members in one country to over 1,100 team members in 10 countries during that short timeline.  It was a very challenging integration, especially when you are dealing with a multitude of European countries with varying degrees of cultural, people practices and of course language barriers.  We went from 0 to 100mph and didn’t lift the foot off the pedal 18 months post the 6th company joining the team.  Absolutely, the highlight of my career and the most valuable experience that I could have ever imagined.

About Lion Equity Partners:

Lion Equity is a Denver-based private equity firm founded with the core purpose of helping companies meet strategic divestiture objectives. The Partners of Lion Equity have significant experience acquiring corporate divestitures and the overall M&A process.

Why do corporations divest non-core divisions to Lion Equity:

• Proven track record of executing complex carve-outs from sellers, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Siemens, Pitney Bowes, Sodexo, The Washington Post and others;
• Demonstrated ability to execute time-sensitive carve-outs requiring speed and certainty of closure;
• Committed to flexible structures that meet seller’s divestiture objectives;
• Dedicated to seamless transition through a unique understanding of the specific issues involved both during due diligence and post-closing working with Seller, employees, customers and suppliers.

To discuss a corporate carve-out transaction, please contact: