Mergers & Acquisitions Announces 2014 Mid-Market Award Winners

Gretchen Perkins Tapped as Dealmaker of the Year; Thoma Bravo Garners Deal of the Year; HGGC Named Private Equity Firm of the Year

New York, NY (PRWEB) March 23, 2015

Mergers & Acquisitions, the leading resource for middle-market dealmakers, has announced the winners of its eighth annual M&A Mid-Market Awards. The awards recognize the most notable dealmakers and deals that set the standard for transactions valued at less than $1 billion.

Gretchen Perkins scored Dealmaker of the Year honors for originating the majority of transactions completed by Huron Capital Partners, and for embodying the increasing important role that deal sourcing plays in today's highly competitive PE marketplace. Perkins is the first woman to win the award.

Thoma Bravo brought home Deal of the Year for buying TravelClick, a transaction that epitomizes two important developments fueling middle-market M&A: cloud computing and travel services.

The 2014 honorees, chosen by the editors of Mergers & Acquisitions, all stood out for delivering outstanding work amid the best dealmaking conditions seen in years to outpace the competition, said Editor-in-Chief Mary Kathleen Flynn.

"In a thriving market, our winners grew more quickly and ranged further afield than the everyone else." said Flynn. "They also exemplified the year's most important dealmaking trends."

Mergers & Acquisitions also recognized the following firms:

HGGC won Private Equity Firm of the Year for proving its vitality even after a change in both name and leadership. HGGC achieved this distinction by raising a successful new fund, delivering stellar returns and completing 10 transactions. Today, the firm (previously known as Huntsman Gay Global Capital) is led by CEO Rich Lawson, former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young, former Bain Capital executive Greg Benson, and former Chief Financial Officer of Citigroup Gary Crittenden.

The Riverside Co. received Seller of the Year for completing an impressive 19 portfolio-company sales and delivering the largest return on a deal since the firm's founding in 1988.

PPG Industries received Strategic Buyer of the Year for a buying spree that included spending $2.3 billion to acquire Consorcio Comex SA and another $1 billion to snatch up four middle-market targets, as the paints and coating business consolidates.

Piper Jaffray & Co. won Investment Bank of the Year for more than doubling its deal volume and value, due, in part, to two acquisitions the bank made the previous year.

GE Capital, the lending unit of General Electric, brought home Lender of the Year for closing 248 private equity-backed loans worth $30 billion, increasing loans made for PE platform acquisitions by 55 percent and launching a new unit focused on the middle market.

Jones Day scored Law Firm of the Year for deepening its bench of M&A partners in high-growth areas, including Europe, Latin America and the energy sector, and for continuing to serve as one of the most active advisers in the middle market.

For complete coverage of the winners, including video interviews, please visit TheMiddleMarket.com/awards2014. The awards are also featured in the April issue of Mergers & Acquisitions magazine.

About the M&A Mid-Market Awards

To be eligible for Mergers & Acquisitions' M&A Mid-Market Awards, deals must have closed during the previous year, involved a U.S.-based company as either buyer or seller and be valued at or below roughly $1 billion. Nominations are encouraged, but not required, and are due January 31st. Special consideration is given to such factors as performance, growth, innovation and thought leadership. Past winners include Amgen, Covidien, eBay, Fifth Street Management, GTCR, Harris Williams, Hormel Foods, K&L Gates, Latham & Watkins, Lincoln International, Sullivan & Cromwell, Starbucks, Vector Capital, William Blair and Yahoo.

About Mergers & Acquisitions

Mergers & Acquisitions covers all aspects of middle-market dealmaking, including identifying acquisition targets, negotiating transactions, performing due diligence, and closing deals. With more than 42,000 unique monthly visitors, the brand's website at themiddlemarket.com is continuously updated, providing real-time information and analysis of news and trends in M&A. Its monthly magazine, which serves some 19,000 subscribers, is published in partnership with the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), a global organization comprised of thousands of private equity firms, corporate officials and intermediaries. Mergers & Acquisitions' online video series features interviews with high-profile dealmakers, including private equity partners, strategic buyers, investment bankers and other advisers.

About SourceMedia

SourceMedia, an Observer Capital company, is a diversified business-to-business digital media company serving senior professionals in the financial, technology, and healthcare sectors. Brands include American Banker, The Bond Buyer, Mergers & Acquisitions, Financial Planning, On Wall Street, Accounting Today, Health Data Management, and Employee Benefit News.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2015/03/prweb12601744.htm