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Generational Group Recognized as an Industry Leader

By Generational Equity

02/01/2017

I am sure that many of you own companies that are world-class performers and they are either officially or unofficially seen as a company many would like to emulate. And this type of recognition means even more if it comes from your peers, the folks that know best what a world-class organization should look like.

That is why we are so pleased as a company to win the coveted Investment Banking Firm of the Year award from our industry trade group, The M&A Advisor. The organization has been officially recognizing leaders in our field for 15 years and we have won several awards over the years, including multiple M&A Consulting Firm and Valuation Firm awards, as well as quite a few individual deal awards. You can see a few of them by following these links:

Each and every time we have won one of these prestigious awards, we have been very grateful, humbled, and honored. What it tells us is that our associates are extremely gifted individuals and that they work very hard to provide exemplary M&A services to our clients.

However, winning Investment Banking Firm of the Year for 2016 carries with it additional meaning for us given the high level of competition we had for the award:

Other finalists in this category were ALANTRA, BDA Partners, Capstone Partners LLC, FT Partners, KPMG Corporate Finance LLC, Peakstone, and Raymond James.

This is how the official press release described the significance of the award:

"The award recipients represent the finest in the M&A industry in 2016 and earned these honors by standing out in a group of extremely impressive finalists," said David Fergusson, Co-CEO and President of The M&A Advisor. "From lower middle market to multi-billion dollar deals, we are recognizing the leading transactions, firms and individuals that represent the highest levels of achievement."

Terry Johnson, Chief Revenue and Strategy Officer with The Generational Group stated, "We are delighted to be recognized by the M&A Advisor in so many categories, especially as Investment Banking Firm of the Year. These awards are a real testament to the hard work of all our associates and their dedication to our clients."

You can see why this is such a tremendous honor to have bestowed upon us and why we are so very proud to have won it.

But what does it really mean to us as an organization? Simply this: Every deal we close represents a business owner or owners who have sacrificed much over the years to grow their companies. It also means families and financial legacies that could last for generations. Because of this we never take any engagement we create lightly. Each one is not a number or simply a name to us, they are individuals who we are serving and often they become our close friends.

In fact, I had a seasoned dealmaker once tell me that he sees his role as similar to a marriage and family counselor for his clients. You can imagine the pressure that the sale of a business may have on marriages and families, and since it can take 9-18 months to close most deals, our dealmakers in many cases nearly become part of the family.

Again, the real winners in our firm being recognized are the business owners we have served over the years and the more than $3 billion (and counting) in wealth we have created for our clients. This number represents the real significance of what we do. By helping a business owner become liquid and realize the financial return he or she has put into the company over the decades, we are helping a group of entrepreneurs realize their financial dreams.

This is a huge role that we do not take lightly.

Thank you to all our associates for making our firm what it is and an even greater thank you to the business owners who have entrusted us to work for them!

By Carl Doerksen, Director of Corporate Development at Generational Equity.

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