We are amid the greatest tailwind since 2019, yet it seems different this time around. The stock market is at an all time high. Interest rates went through three rate cuts leading into 2026 and AI has been the forefront of growth for middle market companies. Yet, having a business valuation is more important today than it has been in years past.

What a valuation provides is a roadmap for future success, The future of securing funding, the future of having fair partner agreements, and a future for ensuring business longevity beyond the owner's tenure. A valuation is proactive tool, not just for a business transaction, it provides an objective benchmark for performance and value creation over time.

Having an accurate valuation for your company, your estate or your exit strategy is critical. If not done correctly it could cost, you or your family in the end, thousands if not millions of dollars. This month, we will discuss the importance of having a valuation for either Gift & Estate planning, exit strategy platform ESOP or for an M&A transaction.

The clock is ticking! We are in the final stretch of 2025 and valuations still have the same challenges as it was at the beginning of the year: market volatility – interest rates – inflation – and those three themes have one thing in common for valuations in these areas of M&A, ESOPs and Gift & Estate – Uncertainty!!

In this episode, we are going to talk about what happens when a company makes the exciting decision to become an employee-owned company with Christopher Czyryca. Mr. Czyryca is the President of Collaborative Testing Services; Inc. CTS is a company that runs interlaboratory programs; these are quality assurance tools for testing in measurements laboratories.

Even though it feels like we have been in this whirlpool cycle so far in 2025, there have been a lot of interesting things happening in the Merger and Acquisition space. As we know, the M&A outlook coming into this year saw that there were several advantages for M&A activity: substantial amount of capital raised, monetary supply side pressure for deal flow, lower interest rates and a more business friendly government. Unfortunately, at the beginning of the second quarter, we took a negative turn!

Having ESOPs as an alternative platform for a potential exit strategy has gained a lot of momentum for a variety of reasons. This podcast explores three areas of interest for considering the ESOP option: 1. Professional Services 2. M&A Growth Strategy and 3. Government support.

Our current economic and market conditions have shifted a great deal in the first quarter of 2025. This shift has brought on both uncertainty and the unknown for any opportunities for M&A for middle market businesses. This month, we will tackle three things to keep an eye on as we go through this next wave.