The State of A&D Mergers & Acquisitions - OC

The State of A&D Mergers & Acquisitions

Panel:

Steve Moon, Managing Director, M&A, Kroll Securities, LLC

Gerik Degner, CFA, Managing Partner, Axle Point Capital LLC

Ryan Murphy, Co-founding Partner, KAL Capital

The Aerospace & Defense Forum Orange County Chapter is holding a panel discussion regarding the state of Mergers & Acquisitions. Learn from some of the most active investment bankers in Southern California on the deals they have worked on and what they are seeing as we close out the year and into 2025. From a buy side you will hear what private equity investors are looking for and what differentiates companies.

The panel will take a dive into what segments of A&D are actively being traded and what are still on pause. Whether it be space, including satellite and launch, defense, MRO and commercial aviation.

Panelists

Steve Moon joined Kroll, formerly known as Duff & Phelps, in 2000 and is a Managing Director in the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions practice and co leads the firm’s Aerospace Defense Government (ADG) Team.

With over 20 years of transaction experience, Steve is responsible for the origination and execution of M&A, capital raise and corporate finance mandates and is also responsible for the coverage of financial sponsors.

Steve has extensive experience in executing mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance transactions for middle market companies in the Aerospace & Defense industry. He is responsible for project management and execution of a broad range of investment banking engagements, including sell and buy side transactions, leveraged buyouts, divestitures, recapitalizations, debt and equity financings, strategic alternative reviews and fairness opinions on behalf of private equity firms and public and private companies.

Steve began his career as an Analyst in the Private Placements Group at Libra Investments (U.S. Bancorp Libra), an investment banking firm specializing in middle market transactions.

Steve received his B.A. in Political Science and Asian Studies from Tufts University. He is a FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 registered representative. He is the former Chairman and President (2016 - 2018) of the Association for Corporate Growth Los Angeles (ACG LA). Steve serves on the Executive Committee of the SoCal Aerospace Council and is also a member of the Tufts Alumni Admissions Program and Pacific Business Resource Group. He is a frequent speaker on topics concerning M&A and financings to attorneys, accountants and board members.

Gerick Degner is the Managing Partner at Axle Point Capital, a private equity firm focused on companies in the diversified industrials and business services verticals, with a particular focus on aerospace, defense, government and healthcare services. Mr. Degner has worked in the private equity industry for the past twenty-five years in a variety of roles.

Previously, Mr. Degner was a Founding Partner of Alpine Pacific Capital, a middle-market independent sponsor, where he was active in all aspects of the firm’s operations and portfolio management. Mr. Degner also worked with Charterhouse Group and managed a private equity consulting firm working with numerous private equity funds. Earlier in his career, Mr. Degner founded and managed a micro-market private equity fund and was a Vice President in Investment Banking at Citibank.

Mr. Degner has served on numerous boards and operating roles, including Chief Executive Officer, of privately held companies. He is a CFA Charter holder and member of the CFA Institute, past President of the Orange County Chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth, and an active member and former Chairman of the Orange County Chapter of Alder. He currently sits on the board of directors for Piranha Fabrication, Arclight Dynamics and Folds of Honor. Mr. Degner holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Ryan Murphy is a co-founding partner of KAL Capital and his highest priorities include creating a culture of winning for our clients and recruiting world class professionals to build the KAL Capital team. In addition to firm management responsibilities, Mr. Murphy’s duties include originating and executing mergers, acquisitions and capital markets transactions for the firm’s clientele. Mr. Murphy is well known for obtaining tremendous value creation throughout a transaction’s lifecycle by developing unique and competitive markets for each situation.

Prior to launching KAL Capital, Mr. Murphy was a founding member of the Aerospace, Defense & Government Services practice for Salem Partners LLC, a Los Angeles based Investment Banking & Wealth Management company. Mr. Murphy began his career in the mid 2000’s with Barclays Capital.

Mr. Murphy is a native of the South Bay region of Los Angeles, graduated cum laude from Vanderbilt University and resides near his childhood home in Palos Verdes, California with his wife and three children.

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