By a CEO Trustee (member)

On Tuesday, October 13, I attended "Working Effectively with Private Equity - What You need to Know" at the Marriott Marquis in NYC.

The event was very well attended by fellow Trustees and guests, refreshments and appetizers were excellent (thank you Ice Miller), and provided an excellent panel, composed of:

• Lori Hess - Partner at L&E Partners (Executive Recruitment/Placement)
• Michael Pfeffer - CEO Trustee and Co-Founder & Managing Director of Post Capital Partners (PE Firm)
• Thomas S. Shattan - Principal at Shattan Mendel Enterprises (Merchant Bank)
• Edward Braum - Partner, Ice Miller (Legal Counsel)

The panelist brought years of experience of working with or in private equity (PE) and was able to cover many topics. Some of the topics covered were:

• Owners selling their company to PE; both full sale and partial sale of owners equity.
• Engagement and role of bankers and advisors in the process of working with PE (as both buyer and seller)
• The function/role executives seeking to work with and possibly partner with PE for regarding ideas/deals in an executive's industry. Including the possibility of executive becoming a retained sponsor for a PE firm to source deals in the executive's industry/area of expertise.
• The vital importance of sellers due diligence on any potential private equity buyer of their company to ensure the best "fit" and alignment of interests.
• Deal structure, particularly PE capital structure in acquired companies has grown more sophisticated and complex. These more complex structures can have a significant impact on the value of any remaining minority interest the sellers may maintain.
• These more complex deal structure also impact executives equity participation/value upon sale of a PE owned company........executives should pay special attention to the PE company's capital structure and executive compensation plans.

The structure and pace of this event was excellent as the panel covered the myriad of subjects.  The panel easily engaged all of us in the audience as there was great give and take from the many questions asked of the panel.

Many thanks to CEO Trust for organizing another great event, and a special thanks to the panel for making their time available for us.