Becker Private Equity & Business Podcast
M&A, Private Equity Trends, and Value Creation with Chris Felderman of Palm Tree LLC 2-6-25
Thu, 06 Feb 2025
In this episode, Chris Felderman, Sr. Managing Director and Co-Head of Consulting at Palm Tree LLC, joins Scott Becker to discuss the evolving M&A landscape, trends in private equity, and how Palm Tree helps mid-market companies maximize value across the investment lifecycle.
Chapter 1: Who is Chris Felderman and what does Palm Tree LLC do?
This is Scott Becker with the Becker Private Equity in Business podcast. We're thrilled each day to feature brilliant business people, brilliant private equity people. Today, we're thrilled to visit with Chris Felderman. Chris is the co-head of consulting and the head of the Chicago office at Palmtree. Palmtree is this magnificent investment bank and consulting firm that
And he's going to tell us more about Palmtree and what they do. A lot of fantastic mid-market work. Chris, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and tell the audience a little bit about Palmtree?
Sure.
Thanks, Scott.
Like you said, my name is Chris Felderman. I'm a senior managing director at Palmtree. I lead our Chicago office. I also oversee the operations of the firm's consulting business, which includes offerings in transaction advisory, accounting advisory, strategic finance, data and analytics, and operations consulting.
And the way we like to describe Palmtree is Palmtree is the modern M&A and operations advisory firm. And I like to explain it a little bit in the what, the when, and the how. So I'll just walk you through that. So in terms of the what,
Our primary objective is to provide perspectives on financial and operational data to enable buyers and sellers to make more informed decisions to drive value creation. When we think about the when, we really provide support to our private equity and corporate clients across the entire investment lifecycle.
In pre-transaction, our offerings include financial and operational due diligence, as well as pre-close accounting and finance operations diagnostics, which includes the people process systems, as well as data and analytics assessments.
On a post-close basis, our transitional offerings are generally focused around things companies taking on institutional capital for the first time typically have not focused on, which includes accounting and finance support,
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Chapter 2: What services does Palm Tree offer in the investment lifecycle?
If you're an investor, you're not necessarily worried at this point about maximization of that last vintage fund. You want to make sure it did okay and you're able to move forward.
Exactly. I think it's more about preservation than it is about maximizing it.
I think that is right on. Talk a little bit about advice that you would give to company founders, business founders. What do you tell emerging leaders, emerging founders as they look at the markets, they look at what's going on and so forth?
I think the first piece of advice I'd give to an evolving leader is that the evolution is a journey and it's rarely ever a straight path. And so you got to ride the waves and you got to grind through the bumps. And when you are perceived externally as a leader, you've probably long been perceived as a leader by those around you. So I would encourage them to continue to be curious.
Don't be in a rush. to have all the answers all the time and as hard as it can be at times, just try to enjoy that ride.
Chris, let me ask you one final question. Where can people learn more about palm tree LLC? Where can they learn more about Chris Felderman?
You can go to palmtreellc.com to learn more about the firm. And, you know, we've got a section on the website that has the bios of all of our senior leaders. And if you want to send me an email at cfelderman at palmtreellc.com, I'd be happy to share a brief overview of the firm and, you know, our history and the offerings that we provide.
Chris, fantastic to visit with you. A huge fan of Palm Street. Thank you so much for joining us today on the Becker Private Equity and Business Podcast. Thank you very, very much.
It's great to be here, Scott. Thanks for having me.
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