Michael Gibbons and Scott Lang Named U.S. Deal Makers of the Year

Michael E. Gibbons and Scott H. Lang, Senior Managing Directors and Principals at Brown Gibbons Lang & Company, were named U.S. Middle Market Deal Makers of the Year at the Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor Awards in New York City on December 3, 2003.

In a sign that the economic recovery is well under way, more than 250 members of the mergers and acquisitions community turned out to celebrate the winners. The black tie gala event was hosted by CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo at the New York Athletic Club during the seventh semi-annual M&A Advisor Conference.

The awards presentation presented sixteen awards to the top deals and deal makers that set the standard in the middle market M&A sector over the course of the year. The winners were chosen after a rigorous selection process by the publication’s awards committee that comprised figures within the business and financial media communities. The winners were selected from 51 dealmakers and transactions in 16 different categories valued between $10 million and $1 billion.

BGL was selected among three finalists for the top honor, besting nominees that included Barry Diller. They were cited for their creativity, the importance of their firm to the industry, and their perseverance. “We are truly honored to have been selected for this award, “ said Scott Lang. “This is a testament to the quality service our entire firm works so diligently to provide our clients.”

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company:

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank serving middle market companies and their owners throughout the U.S. and internationally. BGL’s professionals are experts in mergers & acquisitions, debt & equity placements, and financial restructurings. In 2002, BGL’s senior partners were named Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year for the exceptional track record of the firm and growth in a difficult economic climate.

For further information about BGL, visit our web site at www.bglco.com

About The Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor

The M&A Advisor is a newsletter, website and conference publisher delivering services that provide executives, M&A professionals and others about the intricate world of buying and selling middle market companies.

For further information, visit www.maadivsor.com.

Transactions involving securities are completed through Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company, Securities, Inc., an affiliate of Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company, L.P. and member NASD.

Michael Gibbons Elected to Executive Committee of Global M&A

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company announced today that Michael E. Gibbons, Senior Managing Director and Principal, was recently elected to the Executive Committee of Global M&A.

Global M&A is widely recognized as the world’s leading network of independent M&A houses. Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is the leading shareholder of Global M&A, a consortium of 20 middle-market investment banks with offices in 22 countries including Europe, the Nordic Countries, North and South America and the Far East. Global M&A’s prime purpose is to provide cross-border support and opportunities for clients who wish to complete acquisitions, company sales and other corporate finance transactions. Since 2000, the network has completed over 300 deals worth $7 billion.

“BGL is committed to building its’ global capabilities, “ said Gibbons. “We do this to serve our clients. We believe it will be increasingly important to provide true global reach and localized relationships and expertise if we are to stay on the cutting edge and honor our adage of delivering solutions to the middle market in the years ahead.”

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company:

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank serving middle market companies and their owners throughout the U.S. and internationally. BGL’s professionals are experts in mergers & acquisitions, debt & equity placements, and financial restructurings. In 2002, BGL’s senior partners were named Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year for the exceptional track record of the firm and growth in a difficult economic climate.

For further information about BGL, visit our web site at www.bglco.com

About Global M&A:

Global M&A is the world’s most active network of investment banking boutiques focused on mid-market mergers and acquisitions with values of between $10 million and $150 million.

For further information on Global M&A, visit our website at www.globalma.com

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company Nominated as Investment Bank of the Year

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company announced today that the firm has been named as one of three finalists for two Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor Awards: U.S. Middle Market Investment Bank of the Year and U.S. Middle Market Deal Makers of the Year. The awards will be presented during ceremonies taking place in New York City on December 3, 2003, as part of the 7th Annual Semi-Annual Mergers & Acquisition Advisor Conference.

The firm, celebrating its 15th year of business in 2004, was selected by members of the Awards Selection Committee and The Mergers & Acquisitions Advisor’s editorial board and staff. BGL’s two managing partners, Michael Gibbons and Scott Lang, were individually named as Deal Makers of the Year by the same panel.

“It is a pleasure to be nominated for such a high honor by our peers and industry leaders in the middle market,” said Michael Gibbons, Senior Managing Director and Principal. “We appreciate being recognized for the great service we have provided our clients over the years.”

Scott Lang, Senior Managing Director and Principal adds, “Sharing the finalist spotlight with other leading firms and the likes of Barry Diller is testament to BGL’s strong presence in the U.S. and internationally. We are pleased that our track record is becoming increasingly understood.”

About Brown Gibbons Lang & Company:

Brown Gibbons Lang & Company is a leading independent investment bank serving middle market companies and their owners throughout the U.S and internationally. BGL’s professionals are experts in mergers & acquisitions, debt & equity placements, and financial restructurings. In 2002, BGL’s senior partners were named Ernst & Young Entrepreneurs of the Year for the exceptional track record of the firm and growth in a difficult economic climate.

About Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor:

Mergers and Acquisitions Advisor is a leading newsletter and website www.maadvisor.com for M&A professionals.

Global M&A Network Taps Brown, Gibbons, Lang As Its Principal U.S. Firm

Global M&A, an international consortium of leading independent investment banks that focus primarily on middle market business transactions in Europe, Latin America and the Far East, has selected Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company, a Midwest-based investment banking firm that focuses on similar business transactions throughout the U.S., to be the principal member representing Global M&A in the United States. BGL’s selection was based upon its broad coverage of the U.S. middle markets, its increasing expertise in cross-border transactions, and recommendations from its international client base. The prime purpose of Global M&A is to originate and facilitate cross-border acquisitions and divestitures as well as institutional private placements on behalf of middle market businesses and their owners. With the addition of BGL, the Global M&A network consists of 17 firms covering more than 20 countries in Europe, North America, South and Central America, Asia, and Australia. The organization has its origins in the early 1990’s as an informal association of mostly European M&A firms seeking to capitalize on the acceleration of cross-border M&A activity among European middle market companies. It quickly developed into a global network of firms who formalized their association under the “Global M&A” banner in 1999. Member firms assist multinationals, privately owned companies, private equity investors and financial institutions in completing middle market mergers and acquisitions, corporate financings, financial restructurings, and related matters. Last year, the network completed over 100 transactions totaling an estimated $3.5 billion in enterprise values. Approximately 10% of these deals involved member firms working cooperatively to complete cross-border transactions for their clients.

Barrie Pearson, Chairman of Global M&A and Principal of Tenon Livingstone Guarantee, the London-based founding member of Global M&A, commented on the selection of BGL: “We had been looking for an investment banking firm in North America that shares our firms’ high standards, conducts business throughout the U.S., and has experience with international transactions and clientele. We learned of BGL when the firm was recommended to us by a London based multinational that had just successfully engaged BGL to complete a difficult sale of one of its businesses to a U.S. buyer. We then met some of BGL’s senior bankers, and we knew right away that they were the right firm to represent the Global M&A network in the U.S. We are delighted they have agreed to join us.”

Notes Scott H. Lang, co-head of Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company and head of the firm’s Chicago office, “Through the power and reach of the Global M&A network, we can offer our clients significantly greater access to buyers and sellers of middle market businesses around the world and be more effective in helping them establish new international strategic relationships. In return, BGL provides the Global M&A network members enhanced access to the U.S., the largest M&A and private capital marketplace in the world, and that will be of sizeable benefit to their clients. Our firms now have the kind of local presence in markets around the world that only the largest investment banks typically enjoy, and that’s becoming increasingly important as the middle market continues to globalize. We are honored to have been selected by Global M&A to be its principal member covering the U.S. marketplace.”

Adds Michael E. Gibbons, the other co-head of Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Company and head of the firm’s Cleveland office, “As a firm servicing middle market companies, we are always seeking opportunities to help our clients grow. And for our larger corporate divestiture clients, we can now more effectively sell or source middle market sized businesses virtually anywhere in the world. Our business has become increasingly international over the past few years, and joining Global M&A makes sense.”

Crain’s Cleveland Business Archives: Brown Gibbons Refocuses

There’s a change in direction coming about at Cleveland investment banking firm Brown, Gibbons, Lang & Co. The firm, known primarily for working middle-market merger-and-acquisition deals, is redirecting its efforts toward the growing restructuring field, said principal Mike Gibbons. Brown Gibbons also is close to inking a deal to acquire a New York office that would expand the firm’s East Coast presence.

As the M&A market softens due to the weakened economy, Brown Gibbons is taking on a lot more work in the restructuring arena – an area almost untapped by the firm in recent years, Mr. Gibbons said.

We’ve gone back to our roots as a restructuring firm,” he explained. -We’re shifting personnel from merger and acquisition to prepare for an effort in restructuring.” Brown Gibbons isn’t dropping its business of brokering M&A deals between companies valued at between $30 million and $500 million, but it’s shifting its focus because we can chase mergers and acquisitions until we drop, but we have 30 bankers to keep busy,” Mr. Gibbons said.

When the economy was running at full steam, many companies financed acquisitions and debt through banks and other lenders, but found themselves overleveraged when their growth slowed, said Scott Berlin, Brown Gibbons’ senior vice president and head of the restructuring group.

“With the tightness in the lending markets in the last six to 12 months, the ability to borrow is reduced,” Mr. Berlin said.

So, Brown, Gibbons works to find alternatives such as mezzanine and equity financing for the companies while keeping them out of bankruptcy, Mr. Berlin said.

“And if companies have to sell some non-core assets, we can do that,” Mr. Berlin said. “We can draw on our other areas of expertise of being able to sell companies and (finding) other sources of funds.”

The firm still is working on 10 M&A deals, but it already has closed about 18 restructuring deals in 2001, Mr. Gibbons said, Brown Gibbons Lang is working on 13 restructuring projects both in Ohio and throughout the country, primarily with companies in the manufacturing, industrial and distribution sectors.

By comparison, Brown Gibbons completed just two restructuring deals in 1999 and 2000, none in 1998 and two in 1997. During that same period, the firm completed 40 M&A deals, Mr. Gibbons said.

To handle the surge in restructuring deals, Mr. Gibbons said the firm is looking to hire four or five associates and analysts in the next 12 months. It already has 40 people in offices in Cleveland and Chicago.

Another way of beefing up its restructuring efforts is by opening a new office. The firm is close to striking a deal with a New York restructuring specialist that could give it the talent and a location to expand its reach in the eastern United States, Mr. Gibbons said.

“We already do business on the East Coast,” he explained. “But this individual merits the consideration of opening an office and building it around him.”

Mr. Gibbons declined to disclose the name of the person and company with whom he was talking. He said a deal could be finalized as early as this week.

Meantime, Brown Gibbons will be ready when the market shifts back toward M&A deals, he said.

“We’re going to continue with M&A because we know it will be back,” Mr. Gibbons said. “Everything goes in cycles. If the credit market improves, there will be pent-up demand and we’ll be ready to do that, too.”

By: RYAN CORNELL

Volume: 22

Publication number: 37