Management
UNIQUE EXPERTISE IN MERGER & ACQUISITIONS
Michael Crawford has over 50,000 hours of active M&A experience. His background includes working for buy-and-build companies as an industry/equity and acquisition analyst, improving his skills to drive acquisition prices downward. From that experience, he saw how under-represented sellers were in the marketplace. Therefore, in 1995, he decided to start representing Sellers full-time, helping them receive higher prices for their firms. He has now specialized in representing Sellers exclusively of mid-market companies for 19 years.
As an equity analyst, Michael has reviewed hundreds of seller Wall Street Offering Memorandums and performed financial, product, and capability analysis of companies. Culminating from this unique background of reviewing Investment Banker documents, and being an integral part of an IPO, he starts clients with an 89-page Survey, thus knowing more about the client as compared to other advisors. He performs in-depth due diligence and review of client provided documents, and prepares the clients “teaser” and Offering Memorandum. Then, he calls and negotiates with multiple-buyers on behalf of each client.
Prior to founding The Merger Expert, Inc., a Sell-Side exclusively firm, his career centered on representing publicly-traded and privately-held corporations. He served as an industry/equity analyst, performing financial model building, merger & acquisition valuations and strategic analysis of potential acquisition candidates. In 1994, he valued and was an integral member to a $70 million initial public offering.
Mr. Crawford has appeared twice on AM 1410 Business Talk Radio and has been a guest speaker at:
- Marylhurst University
- Portland State University
- Executive Officers Club
- Women Business Owners Club
- CPA Continuing Education Coursework
- AGC University
- OEN – Oregon Entrepreneurs Network
- TAB – The Alternative Board
- IMA – The Association of Accountants and Financial Professionals in Business
Michael holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance and Accounting from Portland State University (1981). As a member of Phi Beta Lambda, Michael placed 9th at nationals, and won six 1st place awards at state competitions in finance, marketing, sales, speech, debating, and administration. He is an active member of the Seattle Chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth, and the Portland Chapter of the Financial Executive Networking Group. His professional credentials include co-founding and current board member of the Oregon Business Brokers Association. Michael is a former member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Portland where he served as a board member for three years. He has successfully completed two of the Charter Financial Analyst (CFA) exams.
Michael has a strong commitment to listening to his clients and working in a professional team environment to effectively accomplish the client’s goals.
“No matter what it takes, Michael gets it done!” – Spencer Brown
The Merger Expert partners offer a no charge confidential interview to inform business leaders about the process and pitfalls of selling their business. We believe you should be making an informed decision about what is usually your largest asset, Your Company. Get the information and advice you need to start from an industry trusted resource.