Marketing

By Stephen R. Rusch and Erik Jensen Gray Strategic Partners, LLC Table of Contents In mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the Letter of Intent (LOI) is often heralded as a pivotal milestone. Many practitioners and dealmakers focus intensely on “getting to the LOI,” sometimes treating it as the ultimate objective in the early stages of a transaction.

By Stephen R. Rusch and Erik JensenGray Strategic Partners, LLC Table of Contents Introduction Non-bank lenders are aggressively capturing market share in the M&A world. In 2025, private equity transactions accounted for an estimated 30%-40% of global M&A deal value and approximately 55% in the Americas (predominantly the U.S.), according to PitchBook, which measures private

By Stephen R. RuschGray Strategic Partners, LLC Entrepreneurs generally come to a point in their business journey where they find themselves in need of professional financial guidance. Investment bankers raise capital, execute mergers and acquisitions, and navigate complex financial transactions. Often, this includes the refinancing of existing debt, raising capital for business expansion, buying a

By Stephen R. RuschGray Strategic Partners, LLC Everyone is broadly familiar with the private equity business. Private equity funds use pools of equity capital to acquire and/or make investments in businesses often using debt to “lever” their returns. They are in the business of buying and selling businesses. Accordingly, everything is for sale at the

By Stephen R. RuschGray Strategic Partners, LLC Selling a company is a complex process. It tends to be a multidisciplinary effort that requires expertise in mergers & acquisitions (M&A), finance, law, tax and accounting, and other areas. Pre-transaction planning is critical, as is post-transaction wealth management. Since most business owners sell only once in a