28 Years and Counting at the Top of the LMM: A Conversation with Mangrove Equity’s Glenn Oken

In this episode, Glenn Oken, Managing Director at Mangrove Equity Partners, sits down with host Peter Lehrman to discuss the evolution of Small Business M&A, from the late ‘80s to present day. 

The conversation starts with Glenn’s entry into the M&A scene, and the challenges and opportunities of closing transactions before the internet. Glenn shares his insights on the major changes in deal sourcing methods over his career, valuation drift, and the growth of sell-side M&A advisory in the lower middle market. The conversation wraps up with a deep dive into the operating partner model, how early Mangrove was in institutionalizing this model, and how significantly it has influenced the firm’s culture and way of partnering with business owners. 

Additional Discussion Points:

• The birth of Florida Capital Partners
• Closing deals in the 90s
• Evolution of private equity investing
• The impact of internal operating partners
• The power of add-on acquisitions
• Integration strategies and dual branding
• Leveraging reputation in competitive transactions
• Sourcing strategies
• Complexities and opportunities in deals
• Advice for young professionals exploring private equity

This podcast is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners via a trusted online platform.  In every episode, we seek to explore the vast world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, investors, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

If you enjoy the podcast, give us a review on Apple or Spotify. If you’d like to go deeper, head to Axial.com, where there are dozens of recorded Axial member roundtables, downloadable tools for dealmakers, quarterly lower middle market investment banking league-table rankings, and other useful information. If you’re a business owner, professional acquirer, or M&A advisor, you can start using Axial for free at Axial.com.

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Resources:

Glenn Oken LinkedIn

Peter Lehrman LinkedIn

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Axial Website