By Lou Sokolovskiy, CEO & Founder at Opus Connect
October 2020

Introduction

Independent sponsors and capital providers within Opus Connect’s extensive middle market M&A network are a valuable source of insight into the current state of their deal flow during the first eight months of 2020. Our findings in this report seek to illuminate the ways in which independent sponsors have both adapted to change and where they continue to pick up and go forward after a pause during the global economic slowdown. The inherent variability in the independent sponsor model led to a diversity of responses within participants’ deal flow and access to capital.

This report provides a collective knowledge base for how a cross-section of independent sponsors are responding to changes in their deal structures. Opus Connect’s goal is to act as a resource and deal community for current and potential members, conducting this research with the goal of providing a window into the current state of the middle market. A tool for future success, the information gathered aims to promote awareness of current practices as well as the speed and growth potential for deals going forward. Business development strategies are continually changing and growing alongside an industry that is now seeing greater utilization of digital resources and new technologies as some – but not all – parts of the deal process transition to virtual interactions and events. As the global scenario changes, business processes adapt alongside it.

Thank you to our esteemed survey respondents in this market for sharing their timely experiences and discussing the impact of Covid 19 with us as we all cope with the curveballs of 2020 and the unexpected issues that arise from shifting the ways in which we do business during a global pandemic.