Time to buy or sell?

As the economy recovers, now is the time for company owners to plan for their next move, as the mergers and acquisitions market is quickly heating up.

Whether that next move is buying a company, selling a company or handing a company down to the next generation, business owners are invited to attend the annual BizTimes M&A Forum, which will take place Friday, June 8, at the Pfister Hotel, 424 E. Wisconsin Ave., in downtown Milwaukee from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30am.

Experts will provide insights about the latest trends in the M&A market.

The keynote speaker of the M&A Forum will be Steve Booth, director of investment banking at Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc., Milwaukee. Booth oversees Baird’s global corporate finance and M&A activities. He also co-manages Baird’s Equity Capital Markets Group and is a member of the board of directors and executive committee of Baird.

At the forum, Booth will address the unusually wide gap between U.S. and European M&A activity, as well as the local M&A market.

“The U.S. M&A market has held up surprisingly well,” he said. “The European market and emerging markets have slowed in terms of M&A. I’ve never seen a differential between the U.S. lending market and the European lending market like there is today.”

Private equity firms are driving a steep increase in both local and national M&A activity.

“There was a lot of fundraising in 2006, ’07 and the first half 2008, and that equity still hasn’t been spent,” Booth said. “There’s an expiration date, so to speak, on those funds.”

He’ll also list the top 10 M&A transactions in Wisconsin in the past year.

Booth’s presentation will be followed by a panel discussion about the opportunities and challenges facing both buyers and sellers in 2012. The panelists of professional advisors will include:

Attorney Steve Barth, partner at Foley & Lardner LLP. Barth practices in the areas of mergers, acquisitions, leveraged recapitalizations and buyouts; venture capital and private equity fund formation and portfolio company investment; public and private offerings of equity and debt securities; public corporation securities laws and reporting compliance; corporate governance; and assists in the organization, development and financing of startup and development stage corporations. Barth also has extensive experience in counseling mid-market and closely held firms, including many family businesses.

Jim Gettel, managing director at Schenck M&A Solutions. Gettel has extensive knowledge about business mergers, acquisitions, sales and recapitalizations; investment banking; strategic growth and value planning; transaction analysis, structuring, diligence, negotiation and financing; and church and nonprofit growth and development.

The professional advisors panel discussion will be followed by a panel of speakers from the front lines of the M&A world who will share their perspectives and lessons learned from recent transactions. The front line panelists will include:

Jim Lindenberg, who will speak as both a business seller and buyer. Lindenberg sold his company, World Class Wire & Cable Inc., at the top of the boom market in 2008. He then bought the Milwaukee Wave professional soccer team and is involved in other ventures.

Cynthia LaConte, chief executive officer of Dohmen Company. The Milwaukee firm acquired three companies in 2011 and recently completed another acquisition, with plans for additional transactions in the near future. LaConte will discuss strategies for making acquisitions.

Tom Smith, senior managing director of Mason Wells. Mason Wells is a Milwaukee-based private equity firm that manages more than $800 million of capital through the Mason Wells Buyout Funds. Since 1982, Mason Wells has closed more than 80 transactions through the Mason Wells Buyout Funds and its predecessor funds. Smith is responsible for managing the investment activities of the firm. Smith also is responsible for initiating investment opportunities, structuring and negotiating transactions, serving on the board of directors of portfolio companies, working with portfolio company management teams to create shareholder value and arranging for the disposition of investments.

The panel discussions will be moderated by BizTimes executive editor Steve Jagler.

The event will be capped off with breakout sessions with the featured experts.

For more information and to register to attend the BizTimes M&A Forum, visit www.biztimes.com/maforum.