What was your most significant deal of the year?
Engineering the sale of our client Vernon-based C.R. Laurence Co. Inc. to Dublin, Ireland-based CRH for $1.3 billion. Besides obtaining a great price that materially exceeded the client’s valuation expectations, we also obtained five-year employment agreements for the senior executive team (ensuring management continuity), 20-year leases for the real estate owned by the principals, and a moratorium on staff reduction or facility closure.
Title: Chief Executive
Firm: Greif & Co.
Rank: Investment banking, No. 16
Years at firm: 24
Residence: Hollywood Hills
How do you manage the workload?
I sleep four to five hours a night. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you tack on another four hours of active time to each and every day.
What trends are you seeing in the sectors that you serve?
We serve entrepreneurs in all industry sectors. We are seeing more serial entrepreneurs, and we’re seeing more successful entrepreneurs selling their businesses in their 20s then starting another company and doing it all over again, often in five- to 10-year increments. Selling your business is more popular than taking it public today.
Is the work always about getting the largest return possible or are other factors just as important?
We exclusively represent entrepreneurs and more than half of our clients are family businesses. They hire us to get the best deal possible for them and that’s typically defined by entrepreneurs as the highest price. But many times they also want the best new home for their company and its employees, to have greater access to resources – capital, manufacturing and distribution, foreign market presence – that could hypercharge growth potential.
How has doing deals changed since you first got into investment banking?
Private equity is far more of a factor today and the pace of deal-making has accelerated. There’s also more money – both equity and debt – chasing deals than ever before. Information is also more readily available and in much greater quantities.
