Your Guide to Distribution Dealmaking
December 3, 2025 | 10:00 – 3:00 Eastern Time
Join us for this virtual free event
What to expect:
While debt markets and interest rates have cooled M&A activity, strategic and financial dealmakers are active – quality companies still command solid multiples in volatile markets. Learn the latest on market dynamics, successful deal execution, valuation factors and more from the most seasoned M&A dealmakers in distribution.
Strengthen your short- and long-term M&A strategies to prepare for private equity or strategic investment. Sharpen your buy-build-invest growth plans. Experienced speakers and panelists across distribution-focused investment banks, private equity firms and strategic acquirers share perspectives and advice in this half-day intensive – you won’t get a better pulse of what’s happening on the front lines of distribution M&A than in these five hours of high-level insight and guidance. On-demand access through April for registered attendees.
Whether you are a wholesale distribution executive with either sell-side or buy-side strategies or a supplier using independent distribution as a primary channel, this event will help you negotiate more profitable deals and increase your revenue.
Meet the Speakers
Lance Crane
President & CEO
Crane Group
Linkedin
Grant Dennis
Vice President
PMCF Investment Banking
LinkedIn
Seth Feldman
Chief Financial Officer
Singer Equipment Company
LinkedIn
Jay Greyson
Co-Founder and
Managing Director
Supply Chain Equity Partners
Linkedin
Gareth Hughes
Managing Director
Raymond James
Linkedin
Carl Gatenio
Managing Director
Raymond James
Linkedin
Jay Jung
Founder & Managing Partner
Embarc Advisors
Linkedin
Mary Anne Maples
Sr. Product Solutions Engineer
Avalara
Linkedin
Mike Marks
Founding Partner
Indian River Consulting Group
Linkedin
Joe Vitulli
Business Licensing Leader
Avalara
LinkedIn
Joe Wagner
Managing Director
PMCF Investment Banking
LinkedIn
Meet the Moderators
What you will learn:
- Distribution M&A economics, market analysis and competitive dynamics
- Evaluating and retaining outside advisors
- Key provisions of an acquisition agreement, including representations and warranties
- Deal-financing alternatives
- Closing conditions, walk-away rights and related penalties
- Sample documents and tips on creating due-diligence checklists, offering memorandums, non-disclosure agreements, letters of intent, escrow strategies, terms and payout structures
- Best-practice integration plans to guide post-merger activities
Register Today.
(On-demand available if a schedule conflict arises but registration is required)
Agenda
10:00 am – Opening Remarks
10:10 am – Inside The M&A Journey – Real World Perspective and insights on a Sale Transaction
Grant Dennis, Vice President, PMCF Investment Banking
Joe Wagner, Managing Director, PMCF Investment Banking
Lance Crane, President & CEO, Crane Group
What are the key factors that maximize organizational value and readiness for a sale transaction? Listen to industry leaders and investment bankers discuss essential steps, decisions, and lessons from the entire M&A process to help you evaluate your company and prepare for future opportunities.
10:55 am – Break
11:10 am – AI & The Modern Investment Banker
Jay Jung, Founder & Managing Partner, Embarc Advisors
With the rise of AI, identifying potential buyers and targets is becoming faster, cheaper, and more accessible. This session explores how AI is streamlining discovery, expanding target lists based on acquisition criteria, and even helping draft customized pitches and deal narratives.
11:40 am – Scaling for Strategic Acquisition
Seth Feldman, Chief Financial Officer, Singer Equipment Company
Distributors pursuing growth in today’s fragmented market are increasingly turning to M&A as a core part of their strategy. This session features a practical look at how disciplined, well-sequenced acquisitions can strengthen service capabilities and create long-term enterprise value.
12:25 pm – Break
12:40 pm – Unlocking Market Insights
Carl Gatenio, Managing Director, Raymond James
Gareth Hughes, Managing Director, Raymond James
Understanding buyers is about more than knowing who they are in today’s shifting market. This session unveils emerging buyer trends, behaviors, and expectations that are reshaping the M&A landscape for distributors.
1:00 pm – Measuring Cultural Compatibility
Jay Greyson, Co-Founder and Managing Director, Supply Chain Equity Partners
Mike Marks, Founding Partner, Indian River Consulting Group
Evaluating how organizational cultures will mesh is a major consideration during any merger or acquisition, especially for family-owned and values-driven distributors. Discover how leading organizations assess cultural compatibility and learn practical ways to evaluate cultural synergy to develop a framework for future decisions.
1:45 pm – Break
2:00 pm – Licensing Landmines: How to Avoid Operational Disruption
Mary Anne Maples, Senior Product Solutions Engineer, Avalara
Joe Vitulli, Business Licensing Leader, Avalara
As distributors undergo M&A, the chances of falling out of compliance multiply, and even a single missed license can trigger costly, unforeseen consequences that put growth and operations at risk. Hear from Avalara’s licensing experts who will unpack the real-world risks of non-compliance, why manual tracking often fails in multi-location operations, and what leading distributors are doing to build a scalable, future-ready license strategy that protects growth instead of jeopardizing it.
2:45 pm – Closing Remarks
3:00 pm – Program Adjourns
Thank you to our Sponsors:
Register Today.
(On-demand available if a schedule conflict arises but registration is required)
