Business Succession Planning: Issue-Spotting for Private Company Boards

Schedule  

4:30pm CT - Check-In and Networking
5:00pm CT - Panel Discussion
6:20pm CT - Q&A, PDA Housekeeping, Panel Ends
630pm CT - Optional Additional Networking without Speakers
6:45-9:00pm CT - Dinner at The South Branch (Separate Ticket price $65)

Overview

Business Succession, and retirement of owners, can be accomplished successfully by using advanced strategy tools, or less effectively by experiencing involuntarily occurrences, including: Family inheritance; death or disability of owner; insured or uninsured buy-sell agreement; groomed employees for succession; incentive equity to key employees through stock bonus, stock purchase, or executive compensation plans; external hiring using equity incentives; and outside sale of the business to another business or to a private equity firm.  

Speakers will address the strategy tools, involuntary events, insurable events, buy-sell agreements, legal matters, executive comp, M&A and investment banking matters, and mechanisms for selling the business to outsiders, to culminate in a well-planned, productive, business owner exit. 

Discussion will help board members identify long-term and short-term succession planning strategies, for a graceful transition of a business from current owners to new owners. Speakers will address advising the board, and the executives, with strategies to mitigate stresses to the business during a successful transition.

Panelists: Insurance & succession planning consultant (Leigh Harter, Managing Director of NFP Insurance Solutions, Chicago); Lawyer handing business succession & executive compensation (Mark Raymond, partner of Meltzer Purtill and Stelle, Schaumburg); and Investment banking & valuation advisor for mergers & acquisitions and private equity (Michael Norton, Director of Houlihan Capital, Chicago). Moderator and M&A Lawyer (Nancy Fallon-Houle, Partner of Velocity Law, Homer Glen, IL).  Sponsors:  NFP Insurance Solutions (Venue Sponsor) and John Hancock Life Insurance (Food and Beverage Sponsor).

Post Event Dinner

Immediately following the event, join us after for an intimate dinner with the event's panelists. Network with fellow PDA members and delve deeper into the panel discussion's topics. The dinner will be held from 7:30-9:30pm CT at South Branch Tavern & Grille - located at 100 S. Wacker Dr., Chicago. $65 a person for 3 course dinner.  Pre-registration is required.

Registration

$35 Member Registration
$45 Non-Member Registration

$65 Optional Post Event Dinner

Register

Thank you to our National Sponsors!

Thank you to our Chapter Sponsors!

GOLD SPONSOR

SILVER SPONSORS

BRONZE SPONSORS

 

EVENT SPONSOR

 

Speakers

Leigh is Managing Director of NFP Insurance Solutions, is a frequent speaker and author on the topic of business succession, as well as the insurance aspects of succession planning. She specializes in risk management, life and disability insurance solutions for privately held businesses and the high net worth community. Her background includes business continuation planning, advanced underwriting, insurance portfolio analysis, case design and life settlement negotiations. She has developed relationships with some of the premier estate planning, CPA and investment advisory firms in the country.

Mark is a partner at the firm of Meltzer, Purtill & Stelle and has extensive experience with business entities and transactions of all types. Mark serves as general counsel to business owners and his banking and financial consulting experience uniquely qualify him to advise regarding financing, acquisitions, ownership transition planning and all aspects of business sale transactions, including sales and financing transactions involving employee stock ownership plans. Mark also designs and implements executive compensation plans for succession planning and provides estate and related tax efficiency planning.

Michael Norton is a Director of Business Development for Houlihan Capital, LLC, a boutique Chicago firm providing services in:  Investment banking, M&A advisory, financial advisory, business valuation, fairness opinions, and solvency opinions.  Mike is a frequent speaker on topics related to M&A and Valuation.   He is a trusted advisor to clients, providing value-added solutions and perspectives. In his relationships with clients and referral sources, Norton thrives on learning about their needs, questions, or challenges, for which he finds solutions, or has a referral source from his vast network to help with a solution.  Mr. Norton’s client base includes private and public companies, as well Private Equity Funds, SBICs, Hedge Funds, Venture Capital Funds, and others.

Mr. Norton is very involved with the greater M&A Community.  He is on the Board of the Chicago Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) and is involved with the organization nationally. He is also a member of the Small Business Investor Alliance (SBIA), the MBBI, and the American Bar Association’s Business Law Section. He is well-known through those and other communities as a dynamic master connector. Additionally, he was a founding member of the Chicago Leadership Alliance.

Moderator

Nancy is a business lawyer, corporate, M&A, and securities, for smaller businesses. Nancy handles business owner preparation and deal docs for Sale of a Business and Business Succession.  She helps business owners prepare for the sale, field buyer due diligence, and close the deal.  Nancy owns Velocity Law, a small business law firm in suburban Chicago, IL for the past 26 years. Before that, she was a corporate, securities, and M&A lawyer at “BigLaw” downtown Chicago law firm Katten Muchin

Register