The Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA), the association and credentialing body for middle market M&A professionals in partnership with Grant Thornton LLP announced five finalists for the fourth annual Middle Market Thought Leader Award today. The award honors individuals who have made a meaningful contribution to middle market M&A.

“It is an exciting experience to again be a part of the AM&AA’s Middle Market Thought Leader award,” said Steve Brady, a partner in Grant Thornton’s Transaction Advisory Services practice. “We continue to be amazed by the caliber of the nominees and challenged by the process to pick just one winner from five outstanding finalists, representing some of the finest work and research in the M&A field and showcasing in particular this year the powerful force for growth inherent in the intersection of the middle-market and private capital sectors.”

The five finalists are:

• Robin Johnson, M&A partner at Eversheds LLP, for the research driving the M&A Blueprint: Inception to Integration global study. The report has received universal acclaim in Europe and Asia and is being quoted extensively in news publications, setting out a blue print for success in cross-border deals identified by more than 400 deal makers themselves.
• Theodore Koenig, president and CEO of Monroe Capital, for his body of work discussing how the currently difficult credit and financing markets for the middle market are being revolutionized with the introduction of unitranche debt financing, and the effect this is having on the current M&A market.
• Professor Anil Makhija, holder of the Dean’s Distinguished Professorship in Finance at the Fisher College at The Ohio State University, for his instrumental work in creating the National Center for the Middle Market to explore this important segment of our economy and developing the Middle Market Indicator which takes an ongoing pulse of the middle market in terms of various key indicators of past and future performance.
• Milton Marcotte, a partner at McGladrey, for The McGladrey Private Equity Survey, which was conducted in partnership with independent private equity and venture capital research firm PitchBook Data, Inc., a leading source of collective information on the private equity community. Going well beyond media headlines, this survey delves deeply into the issues and concerns facing the middle market today and shares what leadership and investors in middle-market companies are doing to spur growth now.
• Doug Tatum, Chairman of the Research Advisory Board of the Institute for Exceptional Growth Companies, and the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) for research conducted through a joint venture partnership between the Institute for Exceptional Growth Companies (IEGC) and ACG, discussing the economic impact that private capital investment has had on the job market and the overall economy.

The 2012 Middle Market Thought Leader of the Year will be selected from these finalists and announced at a luncheon on Wednesday, January 16, 2013, during the AM&AA Winter Conference in Miami, January 14-17, 2013.

Grant Thornton, a leader in middle-market transaction advisory services, is the premier sponsor of the 2013 AM&AA Winter Conference, Mid Market: Our World of Opportunity in 2013, and an ongoing partner in the award program.

The Alliance of Merger & Acquisition Advisors (AM&AA) is an international organization serving the educational and resource needs of the middle market M&A profession. Formed in 1998 to bring together CPAs, attorneys and other experienced corporate financial advisors, AM&AA’s 900+ professional services firms – including some of the most highly recognized leaders in the industry—draw upon their combined transactional expertise to better serve the needs of their middle market clients worldwide.