Building Vintage Business Partnerships

In early 2002, I joined the New York office of The Riverside Company, one of the largest private equity firms focused on investing in premier companies at the lower end of the middle market and one of the industry’s most active and experienced LBO investors. As a large-cap investment banking veteran, I knew how to get deals done and I understood the importance of building partnerships. However, I had little experience in the middle market, and my charge was to find a way to improve contacts in the financial intermediary and business broker communities – the lifeblood of Riverside’s deal origination efforts. I felt like a mosquito in a nudist camp – too many choices but no particular direction to fly in. Riverside’s marketing director and a Cleveland ACG board member suggested ACG as a great organization for networking and relationship building. She was right! Joining the New York chapter was one of the smartest professional moves I’ve made. As I became more involved, I suggested that ACG host quarterly breakfasts for private equity firms. Although I’d like to take full credit for the idea, the Boston chapter had initiated a similar event with great success. Having spent 20 years in the military, I should have known that no good deed ever goes unpunished. Bill Kane of MTS Health Investors (also a New York PE firm) and I now co-chair the quarterly Private Equity Roundtable. The Roundtable allows me to interact with other PE firms, and share helpful hints and best practices and, in some cases, advice on how to avoid pitfalls. I’ve had the pleasure of working on joint deals with a few PE competitors as a result. Roundtable participants also practice reciprocity. Deals sent to me may be perfectly fine but don’t fit Riverside’s investor profile. Referring other PE groups helps the selling financial intermediary, may generate future reverse deal flow, and creates goodwill. Riverside colleagues annually attend more than 15 different ACG events to increase contact with investment bankers, business brokers, and financial intermediaries that cover North America and Europe. Membership in ACG also has helped me develop lender and service provider contacts. Through ACG I met Geller & Co. and, as a result, Riverside now uses that firm for all of its back-office private equity accounting, fund administration, and IT assistance. I’m proud of Riverside’s impressive results and grateful for the good advice I received about building business through my association with ACG. And now, as a New York board member, I help arrange the annual New York City ACG Wine tasting. In addition to being an invaluable opportunity to meet intermediaries, lenders, and service providers nationwide, if memory serves me correctly, I also get to taste my competitors’ wines. Robert Landis Principal, Origination and Deal Sourcing The Riverside Company (c) 2006 Mergers and Acquisitions Journal and SourceMedia, Inc. All Rights Reserved. http://www.majournal.com http://www.sourcemedia.com