6 | T h e B r i d g e W i n t e r 2 0 2 5
Member Interview
Tell us about your pre-M&A career and how it
led you to doing this work?
My previous life has been in the hospitality
world. I founded and was owner operator of a
conference and event management company
for 29 years. As I grew the business I brought on
three partners. We found ourselves managing
various services for major events such as the
Final 4, US Open, Republican Convention, Super
Bowl and many large corporate and association
conventions. When managing events you are
always double and triple checking EVERYTHING.
We made sure to think through contingency
plans as Murphy’s Law prevailed...anything that
can go wrong will go wrong. This experience
has served me well as an M&A advisor. In 2010,
I started planning my career change. I first
worked on removing myself from my business.
My three partners were doing a great job in
their individual roles and once they knew I was
planning on leaving they were open to taking
on some of my duties. I also started attending
IBBA Conventions to learn more about the
transactions industry. I sold my shares back to
the business in 2012. When I left the business
was right around $16M in revenue with 150
employees. I immediately joined a Minneapolis
M&A firm and started my new career as an
M&A Advisor in 2013. I have found my previous
experience as a business owner has helped me
tremendously when advising business owners
that are ready to sell.
What personal characteristics and strengths
have supported your success in this industry?
I have Churchill’s quote, “Never, Never, Never
Give Up” in my office and I live by that. Having
owned a small business that was deeply
affected during 9/11 and the Great Recession I
learned how to maneuver through difficult times
and come out ahead when all seemed lost. This
attitude has helped as an M&A Advisor as most
transactions oftentimes need to be redirected
to get to the finish line.
What is your greatest M&A accomplishment?
This past year I was able to sell a business for
one of my clients at 89% above his expecting
price. Needless to say he was ecstatic. The
auction process I used was from a class I took
at M&A Source. I now use this same process on
all of my transactions and the results are always
at or above clients expectations.
With regard to the majority of your
engagements, do you work as a team or do you
handle things on your own?
I always have support help from my employees
yet almost all of my transactions I deal directly
with the business owner. We have two other
advisors in our firm and they deal directly with
their clients with support help too. On occasion
M&A advisors within our firm may team up
together.
Do you just do M&A or do you provide other
services – valuations, consulting, etc.?
We mainly offer M&A advising representing the
sellers. Many of our engagements will include
a valuation for fee, which we deduct from our
success fee at closing. There are situations
where just a valuation is needed yet that is a
very small percentage of our sales.
An Interview with
M&A Source Member,
Sam Thompson
Sam Thompson
M&AMI, CBI, Transitions in Business