What hot issues and trends are you currently seeing?
The biggest issue is the increasing multiples driving up transaction prices for private transactions across all industries. Multiples are the highest that they have been in years. This is driven by easy credit from lenders and a lack of quality investment opportunities coming to market. Investors are chasing the good assets and pushing multiples higher and higher in competitive processes.
What are you currently working on that you never expected to be?
Nothing surprises me. I’ve worked on all sorts of transactions without a specific industry focus. What does surprise me is how a portfolio company is considering an IPO one year and then is involved in a major restructuring the next. That happens more often expected.
Which blogs/web sites do you read the most?
We have a great knowledge management team at Akin. They do an excellent job of compiling all of the recent case law and developments in the legal industry and making it available to me on a timely basis. So I rarely read legal blogs or other legal websites. Instead, I read the The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times to keep current on business events and ESPN.com and Grantland for sports.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I have three kids between the ages of 2 and 9 so there isn’t much free time. If I do catch a break, I like to cook. I’ll cook anything but I’m a big fan of BBQ. I like to sit in the yard and get one of my smokers going on a cool sunny day.