Manufacturing leaders are facing more complex decisions about growth, ownership and capital than ever before. Even if a transaction isn’t imminent, understanding how your company is valued—and how strategic options are evolving—is increasingly important.
The Manufacturing M&A Dealmakers Forum is a focused, one-day program for CEOs and CFOs who want a clearer view of valuation, deal dynamics and long-term strategic choices in manufacturing. Held immediately prior to the Manufacturing Leaders Summit, the Forum gives you the financial and strategic context to inform broader leadership and operational discussions during the week.
Whether you’re actively exploring a transaction or simply planning ahead, this Forum is designed to help you approach every major decision with greater clarity and confidence.
Topics include:
Where valuations and deal flow are headed in 2026
When partnerships or partial exits can create stronger long-term outcomes
How capital availability and financing structures are shifting
How to think about ownership transitions and leadership succession
What buyers prioritize in manufacturing businesses today
Why having a clear M&A perspective strengthens your overall business strategy
A CEO or owner thinking about valuation, growth or an eventual exit (now or later)
A CFO or finance leader involved in capital planning or strategic decisions
Exploring acquisitions, partnerships, recapitalizations or simply preparing ahead
Looking to understand what buyers and investors are prioritizing today
Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Class VI Pathfinder
Reveals how manufacturing owners and acquirers can proactively shape value before a deal ever enters the market.
Former Chairman & CEO, Schering-Plough and Pharmacia
Director, Warburg Pincus
Chairman, Caret Group
With over $160 billion in transactions, Fred will share past experiences of a $62 billion sale to Pfizer, evaluating acquisitions, reviewing integration strategies and preparing companies for sale.
President, North American Strategies
Managing Director, STS Capital Partners
Shares firsthand experiences from recent deals: what drove valuation up or down and how to navigate negotiations to capture value.
With over $160 billion in transactions, Fred will share past experiences of a $62 billion sale to Pfizer, evaluating acquisitions, reviewing integration strategies and preparing companies for sale.
9:30 – 10:00 am
10:00 – 11:00 am
True valuation is built—not discovered. This opening session reveals how manufacturing owners and acquirers can proactively shape value before a deal ever enters the market. We’ll explore the operational levers that matter most in 2026—customer concentration, recurring revenue, leadership depth, automation—and uncover the red flags that kill value during diligence. Whether you’re planning to buy or preparing to sell, you’ll walk away with a playbook for boosting enterprise value in advance of a transaction.
Vice President of Strategic Alliances, Class VI Pathfinder
11:00 – 11:45 am
In this candid conversation, manufacturing CEOs share firsthand experiences from recent deals—what drove valuation up or down, how they navigated negotiations, what caught them off guard in diligence, and how they positioned their business to win after close. Expect unfiltered insights on integration, leadership alignment, regulatory risk, customer transitions, and value capture.
Former CEO, Quicken Steel; Co-Author, of The Extraordinary Exit: How to Sell Your Business for Maximum Value, Protect Your Legacy, and Walk Away with No Regrets
President, North American Strategies and Managing Director, STS Capital Partners; Co-Author, of The Extraordinary Exit: How to Sell Your Business for Maximum Value, Protect Your Legacy, and Walk Away with No Regrets
11:45 – 1:15 pm
Over lunch, attendees will divided into buy-side and sell-side peer breakouts. Concurrently, participants have the chance to purposefully meet with advisors in 15-minute 1:1 confidential settings to discuss specifics about your business situation, value-enhancing ideas and potential deal strategies.
Many manufacturing businesses perform well operationally, yet stall in a transaction because the company isn’t structurally ready to sell. This discussion will focus on the human and operational realities that shape deal outcomes long before valuation begins. We’ll examine critical factors that can impact your deal value and certainty of closing, such as founder dependence, leadership bench strength, customer concentration, revenue mix, growth strategy, financial reporting / systems strength and knowable unknowns, through the lens of what buyers are truly underwriting. Rather than focusing on EBITDA expansion, this discussion centers on transferability, credibility, and ability to maintain deal momentum. If you plan to explore a transaction in the next two to five years, this session will help you identify the obstacles that could limit your options—and the steps to remove them.
Managing Director & Head of Industrials and Business Services, Intrepid
Private equity firms and strategic buyers continue to pursue consolidation opportunities across the manufacturing sector. This roundtable will explore where the next wave of roll-up strategies is emerging and how buyers are identifying attractive platforms and add-on targets. We’ll discuss themes shaping deal activity—from HALO (Heavy Assets, Low Obsolescence) sectors and reshoring tailwinds to automation-driven productivity gains and niche manufacturing fragmentation. The conversation will focus on practical buy-side perspectives: where capital is being deployed, how buyers are structuring roll-ups, and what makes a platform scalable through acquisition.
Senior Managing Director, Business Development, Align BA
Many manufacturers focus on boosting EBITDA ahead of a sale—only to discover late in the process that a handful of avoidable issues can quietly drag down valuation and deal certainty. In this sell-side roundtable, we’ll unpack seven common “value killers” that buyers penalize most, from an unclear growth story and hard-to-defend concentration to shallow leadership depth, weak operational systems, underdeveloped financial reporting, and overreliance on the owner. The goal is practical: help you spot the risks that most often diminish value or salability—and identify what to fix early so you can go to market with a stronger, more defensible business.
Vice President of Strategic Alliances, Class VI Pathfinder
1:15 – 1:30 pm
1:30 – 2:30 pm
Attendees will divide into smaller buy-side and sell-side breakouts.
Founders often focus on the multiple and headline valuation when planning an exit, but the structure of the deal ultimately determines how much cash they keep when the dust settles. This session explains why transaction structure matters as much as price, and how elements like rolled equity, earn-outs, and seller notes can materially change risk, timing, and after-tax proceeds. We’ll also examine the impact of taxes in deal structure, helping founders understand how different choices at the negotiating table translate into real outcomes after closing.
Founder & Managing Partner, Embarc Advisors
2:30 – 3:15 pm
A focused look at interest rates, credit conditions, tariffs, private equity deployment, and emerging capital sources. Understand how these forces will shape valuation, deal timing, and financing strategies over the next 12 months.
Managing Director, Intrepid
3:15 – 4:15 pm
Walk through a live manufacturing M&A scenario with competing options: strategic sale vs. recap vs. PE hybrid. Evaluate risks, debate capital structures, pressure-test integration plans, and see how different decisions affect ultimate value. You’ll compete in real time against fellow dealmakers to determine the winning strategy.
4:15 – 5:00 pm
When it comes to dealmaking, Fred Hassan has seen it all—and the principles that drove his $160 billion in transactions apply whether you're buying a $50 million competitor or pursuing a nine-figure strategic acquisition. From transforming the failing Pharmacia & Upjohn merger into a $62 billion sale to Pfizer, to engineering strategic acquisitions like the $16 billion Organon deal that yielded Keytruda (now the industry's largest drug), Hassan understands what makes deals work—and what makes them fail. Whether you're evaluating your first acquisition, planning a merger with a rival, or preparing your company for sale, this conversation with Hassan promises battle-tested wisdom on the deal dynamics, integration strategies and leadership principles that determine success.
Former Chairman & CEO, Schering-Plough and Pharmacia; Director, Warburg Pincus; Chairman, Caret Group
5:30 – 6:30 pm
Expand your circle beyond dealmakers. Meet manufacturing CEOs and operational leaders from the broader summit—potential buyers, partners, and strategic allies.
6:30 pm
Join your peers for casual networking at local restaurants.
Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Class VI Pathfinder
Reveals how manufacturing owners and acquirers can proactively shape value before a deal ever enters the market.
Former CEO
Quicken Steel
Shares candid lessons around what caught him off guard in diligence and how he positioned the business to win after close.
President, North American Strategies
Managing Director, STS Capital Partners
Shares firsthand experiences from recent deals: what drove valuation up or down and how to navigate negotiations to capture value.
Why Attend
You can attend the Forum on its own or add it to your Summit registration.
registration options
Recommended
Manufacturing Leaders 2026 Event Bundle
$2,595
Rate through Apr. 3
RECOMMENDED
Manufacturing M&A Dealmakers Forum
$895
Rate through Apr. 3
RECOMMENDED
Manufacturing Leaders Summit
$2,295
Rate through Apr. 3
“Highly recommend for buy or sell side if you want to network with CEOs who have been through the process.”
“Great networking and connections for preparing your company for sale.”
“Excellent overview of the selling process, absolutely terrific!”
Attendees can take advantage of a room block for a discounted rate of $309/night through April 10, 2026 at the Ritz Carlton. Reserve your room online or call 1-800-960-7056 and mention the code CEG.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
Steve Rutan and Denise Harrison have put together an afternoon workshop that will provide the tools you need to address these concerns. They have worked with hundreds of executives to develop a systematic approach that will enable your team to make better decisions during strategic planning. Steve and Denise will walk you through exercises for prioritizing your lists and steps that will reset and reinvigorate your process. This will be a hands-on workshop that will enable you to think about your business as you use the tools that are being presented. If you are ready for a Strategic Planning tune-up, select this workshop in your registration form. The additional fee of $695 will be added to your total.
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.