9 M&A Conferences to Attend in Q1’14

Below is a list of 9 conferences that have earned a reputation for targeting middle market deal professionals and facilitating deals all around the United States.

As we have previously discussed, conferences can be an excellent way to boost networking and increase visibility on opportunities. If you are attending any of the below conferences, it is important to maximize value and effectiveness at events and to measure your ROI.

January 21-23 – AM&AA Winter Conference, Scottsdale, AZ

AM&AA’s Winter Conference is expected to draw together 450+ middle market investment bankers, private equity firms, lenders, and service providers. The three-day conference is host to nearly 20 panels and sessions, including one moderated by Axial’s Jaime Raczka on Preparing Your Company for an Investment or Sale. The conference could offer some great networking in some warm climate.

January 22 – Growth Conference 2014, New Orleans, LA

Entrepreneur Magazine is putting on its 6th annual Growth Conference. This year is focused on helping small business owners gain, “ground on [their] biggest branding, sales and revenue goals through everything from raising capital to online marketing.” While the event is focused primarily on the business owner and the entrepreneur, it could be a great opportunity to network and get a pulse on business owner sentiments. Attending business owner conferences as an investor can be very advantageous.

January 29 – ACG Atlanta – Capital Connection, Atlanta, GA

If you can’t make it to Scottsdale, ACG Atlanta’s Capital Connection offers another great opportunity in January to meet and network with other middle market deal professionals. The conference, which features the Private Equity Marketplace and Reverse Capital Connection, also has Charles Krauthammer and Jeffrey Rosenweig as keynote speakers.

January 31 – MBBI Premier Conference, Chicago, IL

To prepare for an effective 2014, MBBI is putting together a conference that includes insights from lead economist William Strauss of the Federal Reserve of Chicago, deal trends, key legislation affecting the M&A industry, and more. Look out for Axial on the panel The Rise and Benefit of Online Private Market Networks.

February 13 – Venture Summit Silicon Valley 2014, San Mateo, CA

Although the Venture Summit Silicon Valley is most appropriate for VCs and early stage PE investors, it offers some great insights into top trends and opportunities in Silicon Valley. In addition to several CEO presentations, there will be discussions around crowdfunding, outlook for 2014, and more.

March 4-5 – Mid-Atlantic Growth Conference, McLean, VA

ACG’s DealSource is one of the best ways for intermediaries to discuss relevant opportunities with a variety of financial sponsors. Keynote speakers include Ted Leonsis (Chairman, CEO, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, Co-Founder, Revolution Growth), Katharine Weymouth (CEO and Publisher, The Washington Post), and Len Forkas, (President & CEO, Milestone Communications). If you can’t make it to Virginia, you can attend the same event in Texas (DealSource and Texas ACG Capital Connection 2014) on the same days.

March 9-12 – Annual ROTH Conference, Dana Point, CA

ROTH Capital Partners is putting together its 26th annual conference in Dana Point, CA. The four-day conference is focused on the Cleantech, Consumer & Retail, Energy & Industrial, Enterprise Software, Healthcare, Resources, Semiconductors & Electronics, Services and Technology & Media sectors and will allow investors to meet 1-on-1 with companies.

March 13 – Utah Intermountain Growth Conference, Salt Lake City, UT

The first major Intermountain conference of the year, ACG’s Growth Conference will bring together deal professionals for Deal Link and Capital Connection. For the avid skiers out there, the conference leads directly into the 6th Annual ACG Western Ski and Bobsled Conference that Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15.

March 20 – ACG San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

The San Francisco conference is expected to bring together 600+ dealmakers for a day of ACG Capital Connection and DealSource. The conference will also host panels on M&A roll-ups and tech company M&A, have a dedicated Networking Lounge, and a CEO ‘Fireside Chat’.