Industrials M&A Trends That Drive Value

Rick McDonald is the Founder and Managing Director of Exit Boston, a New England middle-market M&A advisory firm headquartered in Danvers, MA. With more than two decades of active deal advisory work, Rick has been directly involved in 50 to 100 closed middle-market transactions, guiding founders and private business owners through company sales, recapitalizations, and strategic transitions. His deep expertise spans business valuation, institutional buyer readiness, and deal structuring tailored to each founder's financial goals and legacy objectives. Beyond his advisory practice, Rick serves as an Adjunct Professor of Finance at Endicott College, reflecting his commitment to sharing knowledge across the financial community. His leadership has earned Exit Boston national recognition, including a top-ten ranking among U.S. M&A advisory firms by Axial.

Sevan Demirdogen is a Partner at Exit Boston, bringing over 40 years of executive leadership experience managing domestic and international businesses across multiple industries. His distinguished career includes serving as CEO and Board Member of Kano Laboratories, President and Executive Vice President of Scapa Group plc, and senior leadership roles at Illinois Tool Works. Sevan's deep operational background and boardroom experience provide Exit Boston's clients with invaluable insight into what institutional buyers look for in acquisition targets. His perspective helps founder-led businesses identify and address operational gaps, strengthen management structures, and position themselves for premium valuations. Sevan's global experience across North America and international markets makes him a trusted advisor for business owners navigating complex strategic transitions.

Steve Vesey is Co-Founder of Exit Boston and a seasoned CPA with over 40 years of accounting and financial advisory experience. He has dedicated more than 25 years to preparing business valuations and has assisted hundreds of business owners with succession planning and exit strategy development. Steve's deep expertise in business valuation and exit planning forms a critical foundation of Exit Boston's advisory approach, ensuring that every engagement is grounded in rigorous financial analysis and a clear understanding of value drivers. His ability to assess a business through the eyes of both an accountant and a strategic advisor helps founders understand their true market value and identify opportunities to maximize their outcome prior to a sale or transition.

David Hockley is a Partner at Exit Boston and a serial entrepreneur and operator with over 15 years of experience scaling high-growth businesses across Europe, North America, Asia, and the Middle East. Having personally driven more than $300 million in sales throughout his career, David brings a rare combination of entrepreneurial hustle and institutional discipline to every client engagement. He specializes in scaling founder-led businesses, preparing companies for strategic exits, and improving institutional buyer readiness. David's firsthand experience building and exiting businesses across diverse geographies gives him a unique ability to empathize with founders while providing the strategic clarity needed to attract competitive acquisition offers from private equity firms, strategic acquirers, and family offices.

Mike Camarro serves as Business Development Officer at Exit Boston, where he leverages a strong financial background to support client acquisition and advisory engagements. A former controller and CFO, Mike has extensive experience across retail, distribution, technology, and wealth management industries. He has led finance and accounting teams through the rigors of acquisition due diligence and post-acquisition integration, providing him with practical insight into what buyers scrutinize during a transaction. Mike began his career as an auditor at Coopers & Lybrand, building a disciplined financial foundation that informs his work with founder-led businesses today. His ability to bridge finance, operations, and business development makes him a valuable resource for founders preparing for institutional-quality exits.

Laura serves as Senior Research Analyst at Exit Boston, playing a vital behind-the-scenes role in every client engagement. She is responsible for delivering comprehensive middle-market industry analysis, competitive landscape mapping, buyer universe identification, precedent transaction research, and target buyer profiling. Her work ensures that Exit Boston's deal strategies are informed by current market intelligence and grounded in a thorough understanding of each client's industry and competitive position. By identifying and profiling the most qualified and motivated buyers for each transaction, Laura helps the firm create the competitive tension necessary to achieve premium acquisition outcomes for the founders it serves.

Abbey serves as Chief of Staff and Administrative Director at Exit Boston, where she is the organizational backbone of the firm's day-to-day operations. With two decades of experience across financial services administration, executive operations, and client engagement management, Abbey brings exceptional professionalism and attention to detail to every interaction. She coordinates client communications, manages engagement pipelines, oversees deal timelines, and ensures the seamless flow of document workflows and client deliverables throughout each transaction. Her deep experience in financial services environments means she understands the sensitivity and precision required in M&A engagements, making her a trusted point of contact for clients navigating complex and high-stakes business transitions.

Thor serves as Director of Transaction Marketing and Investor Relations at Exit Boston, where he leads the development and execution of the firm's confidential transaction marketing materials. His work includes crafting confidential information memoranda, executive teasers, investor presentations, and institutional transaction marketing campaigns tailored to the specific acquisition criteria of qualified buyers. Thor's expertise in presenting founder-led businesses in an institutional light is central to Exit Boston's ability to attract serious, competitive interest from private equity firms, strategic acquirers, and family offices. His materials are designed to communicate each company's investment thesis with clarity and precision, helping to create the competitive buyer tension that drives premium valuations for the firm's clients.

Finn serves as Assistant Director of Financial Analysis at Exit Boston, providing critical analytical support across the firm's deal advisory engagements. His responsibilities span financial management, cash operations, financial modeling, accounting, and deal advisory analysis, ensuring that each transaction is supported by rigorous and accurate financial work product. Finn's contributions are essential to the preparation of the detailed financial analyses that underpin Exit Boston's valuation work and buyer-facing materials. His attention to detail and commitment to financial precision help ensure that every engagement reflects the institutional-quality standards that the firm's clients expect and that serious buyers demand. Finn plays an important role in supporting the firm's mission of preparing founder-led businesses for premium acquisition outcomes.