McGladrey Capital Markets’ Mark C. Agosto co-chairs 2009 CompositesWorld Investment Forum

Costa Mesa, Calif. – January 28, 2008 – On Feb. 26–27, Mark C. Agosto, managing director of McGladrey Capital Markets LLC and head of the firm’s Plastic and Advanced Materials practice, will co-chair the 2009 CompositesWorld Investment Forum in New York City. The event will examine the composites industry and its various end markets, including market outlook, economic impacts, industry growth opportunities, process improvements and more.

Agosto will speak on “2009: Boom or Bust for Composites Related Mergers and Acquisitions?” He will also lead a panel discussion regarding private equity and venture capital investments in the composite sector.

The second annual CompositesWorld Investment Forum is an international conference where more than 100 marketing executives, business development specialists, investment analysts and composite industry experts will explore the global and regional outlook for composite materials. Kevin Michaels, principal of Aerostrategy LLC, will also co-chair.

Mark C. Agosto, managing director of McGladrey Capital Markets, has more than 15 years of investment banking and corporate finance experience. He has advised more than 100 companies and has been involved in a variety of M&A transactions, including acquisitions, buy-outs, divestitures and joint ventures. Agosto's experience spans a number of different industries, including plastics and advanced materials, aerospace and defense, business services, logistics and distribution, industrial manufacturing, and consumer products.

Prior to joining McGladrey Capital Markets, he was a vice president with a San Francisco-based merchant bank, the ARCH Group, where he facilitated leveraged and management buyouts. He also worked as a mergers and acquisitions principal with a Boston-based middle-market investment bank, Mirus Capital Advisors (formally Ross Crossland Weston).

Agosto earned a bachelor's degree in business administration from California Polytechnic, San Luis Obispo and master's degree in business administration with honors in finance from Boston University. He holds FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 securities licenses.

McGladrey Capital Markets climbs league tables amid year of milestones

Costa Mesa, Calif. – January 26, 2009 – McGladrey Capital Markets LLC continues to climb FactSet Mergerstat’s national rankings of M&A advisors. In 2008, the firm jumped five spots to rank No. 14 for overall deal volume and climbed to No. 2 for deals under $250 million. Furthermore, the firm’s Consumer Products, Chemicals, and Plastics & Advanced Materials teams each earned the No. 1 rank for deals under $250 million, while the Food & Beverage and Basic Industries teams took the No. 2 spot.

For 2007, the firm was ranked No. 19 overall and No. 3 for deals below $100 million. McGladrey Capital Markets first appeared in the national rankings in 2005 and has been ranked in the top 20 every year since then.

Amid a market in retreat, McGladrey Capital Markets held steady with 45 deals closed in 2008 (versus 47 in 2007) and $1.51 billion in deal liquidity created (versus $1.66 billion in 2007). In contrast, aggregate deal volume in the United States declined 30.4 percent year-over-year, according to FactSet Mergerstat. Investment bankers at McGladrey Capital Markets concluded five middle-market M&A deals within December alone, despite the frigid financial climate. Particularly strong sectors for the firm were Aerospace & Defense with five transactions closed and Food & Beverage with six transactions closed.

“Our success reflects the expertise, experience and commitment of our professionals,” says Hector J. Cuellar, president of McGladrey Capital Markets. “As the market was struggling, our teams creatively brought value to their clients. To continue closing deals and rising up the rankings amid the challenges of 2008 is a significant accomplishment.”

The year brought other advances as well:

• The firm continued its international growth, closing its first intra-European transactions, increasing cross-border deals 27 percent (representing one third of the firm’s deals in 2008), and working with clients across the globe—including Japan, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Events like the firm’s International M&A Symposium, held in October in London, continue to bring international buyers to North American sell-side clients.
  
  
• The firm launched deal teams with experience in the consumer products industry and the media, entertainment and gaming industry. In addition, the newly renamed plastics and advanced materials practice emphasizes the firm’s commitment to composites and other advanced materials.
  
  
• The firm launched a restructuring practice. The firm’s restructuring experts advise companies with underperforming assets and those experiencing financial distress, working with both debtors and creditors to develop tailored solutions suitable for virtually any financial or operating situation.
  
  
• The firm’s name change, from RSM EquiCo Capital Markets to McGladrey Capital Markets, reflected tighter integration with leading professional services firm RSM McGladrey. It was a significant milestone in a transformation process that began when Hector J. Cuellar assumed leadership of the firm in 2004.
  
  
• The firm’s private equity group clients increased fourfold and its total buy-side advisory engagements nearly doubled.

About McGladrey Capital Markets

McGladrey Capital Markets LLC (www.mcgladreycm.com) is a global provider of investment banking services to private and public companies with annual revenues of up to $1 billion. The firm’s services include mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, capital raising, fairness opinions and restructurings. McGladrey Capital Markets, which offers in-depth expertise in 13 distinct industry sectors, brings together companies, capital and creativity on a national and international scale to help clients achieve their personal and strategic objectives.

McGladrey Capital Markets is affiliated with RSM McGladrey Inc., a professional services firm providing accounting, tax and business consulting. Both firms are indirect subsidiaries of H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), the world’s preeminent tax services provider. McGladrey Capital Markets is also a member of RSM International, a worldwide network of professional services firms.

McGladrey Capital Markets’ international headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, Calif. It also has offices in Chicago, Boston, Dallas, New York and London. The firm is a member of FINRA and SIPC.

Is help on the way? (from Modern Plastics Worldwide)

This month sees the inauguration of Barack Obama, who takes the helm at a critical moment and faces a daunting set of challenges. As the global economic outlook continues to sour, what does the future hold for American processors as a new leader charts a new course?

...Mark Agosto is managing director at McGladrey Capital Markets (Costa Mesa, CA), which provides investment banking services principally to privately owned midsized businesses and mid-cap public companies. Plastics plays a large role at the firm, and it claims to have been one of the leading middle market banks for composite and advanced material-related transactions over the last several years. More at www.mcgladreycm.com.

Metal fabricators face lower '09 demand, pricing: report (from Metal Bulletin)(subscription required)

CHICAGO 15 January 2009 22:10

While facing lower demand and pricing in the near term, metal fabricators could benefit from any increase in government-led infrastructure spending, according to an industry review of basic materials markets by McGladrey Capital Markets LLC.

The middle-market investment bank based in Costa Mesa, Calif., said in its research report that such spending "is expected to cause an increase in demand for metals and an improved outlook for these commodities in 2009 and 2010."

Metal fabricators operating in the medical, communications, life sciences and defense segments were somewhat insulated last year compared with those serving the automotive, heavy construction and retail electronics segments, according to McGladrey's analysts.

The global economic slowdown is impacting raw material prices, with steel, copper and other metal pricing declining significantly over the past three months, they said, adding that raw material prices "are expected to remain weak throughout the first half of 2009 as economic weakness leads to lower demand in most manufacturing sectors."

The metal fabrication market saw growth of 4.5 percent in 2007 and 1.7 percent in 2008, but is expected to see a 1.9-percent contraction this year before inching up 0.5 percent in 2010, according to the review

2008 Q4 - Industry reviews from McGladrey Capital Markets

McGladrey Capital Markets would like to present our latest Quarterly Industry Reviews. Each of our industry teams has prepared this briefing, which highlights key trends, examines M&A activity, provides industry insight and details current mandates that may be of interest to you or your clients within the following sectors linked below:

Aerospace & Defense
Basic Industries
Chemicals
Consumer Products & Services
Energy Services
Engineering, Construction and Building Materials
Food & Beverage
Global Financial Services
Government Services
Healthcare
Media, Entertainment and Gaming
Plastics and Advanced Materials
Technology

Defense Contractors Fear Bailout Fallout

By Dan Beighley
Orange County Business Journal Staff

...Some aren’t expecting many contracts for big ticket items, since many believe the federal budget is swinging from aircraft toward research and development.

“There’s a priority for strategy,” said Hector Cuellar, president of Costa Mesa-based investment bank McGladrey Capital Markets LLC, a unit of Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block Inc.

Programs for intelligence, security and information gathering, such as unmanned planes, radar and satellite systems, stand a better chance of getting funding, Cuellar said.

ThalesRaytheonSystems Co., a venture of Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon Co. and France’s Thales with its U.S. base in Fullerton, recently was awarded a $217 million radar contract.

Eaton could gain contracts to make parts for unmanned planes, such as Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp.’s X-47B, which is designed to operate from aircraft carriers.

Cuellar said he believes the government won’t likely cut spending, as equipment used in Iraq likely will be replenished for Afghanistan.

“No administration would approve a significant drop,” he said....

2008 Was No-Show Year for Local IPO (from the Orange County Business Journal)

By Dan Beighley
Orange County Business Journal Staff

It was the year that wasn’t for local initial public offerings.

...Accounting costs from the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 have made going public harder for companies valued at less than $1 billion, said Hector Cuellar, president of Costa Mesa-based investment bank McGladrey Capital Markets LLC, a unit of Kansas City, Mo.-based H&R Block Inc....

McGladrey Capital Markets leads negotiations as Synchronous Aerospace acquires Helicomb International

Costa Mesa, Calif. – January 07, 2009 – Synchronous Aerospace, a portfolio company of Littlejohn & Co, has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Helicomb International. Transaction terms were not disclosed.

McGladrey Capital Markets LLC initiated the transaction, led the negotiations and acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Helicomb. Johnson, Jones, Dornblaser, Coffman & Shorb LLP acted as legal advisor to Helicomb, and Morrison Cohen acted as legal advisor to the buyer.

“The McGladrey Capital Markets team ran an efficient, effective process that achieved a strong valuation with minimal disruption to Helicomb’s business,” says Bob Austin, president and majority shareholder of Helicomb. “The results exceeded my personal expectations, especially given the challenging market conditions.”

About Helicomb International

Founded in 1981 and based in Tulsa, Okla., Helicomb produces commercial and military aircraft structures manufactured from a broad range of composite and metal-bonded materials for leading aerospace manufacturers, Tier 1 suppliers and overhaul service providers.

About Synchronous Aerospace

Synchronous is a Santa Ana, Calif.-based leading provider of flight-critical machined aluminum and hard-metal parts; integrated kits and assemblies; composite, metallic and metal-bonded airframe structures; and systems details to the commercial, fixed- and rotary-wing military, and space markets. The company's products span the entire body of an aircraft, including the wing, airframe, engine and fuselage. From facilities strategically located throughout the United States, Synchronous sells to leading aerospace original equipment manufacturers, Tier I suppliers and key MRO service providers.

About Littlejohn & Co

Littlejohn & Co LLC is a Greenwich, Conn.-based control-oriented private equity firm seeking investment opportunities in the middle-market sector that are undergoing a fundamental change in capital structure, strategy, operations or growth that can benefit from the firm’s operational and strategic approach. The firm’s professionals manage three funds with committed capital of approximately $1.6 billion. The firm is currently investing from Littlejohn Fund III LP, which has $850 million in capital commitments. For more information, visit www.littlejohnllc.com, or Littlejohn can be reached at 203-552-3500.

About McGladrey Capital Markets

McGladrey Capital Markets LLC is a global provider of investment banking services to private and public companies with annual revenues of up to $1 billion. The firm’s services include mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, recapitalizations, capital raising, fairness opinions and restructurings. McGladrey Capital Markets, which offers in-depth expertise in 13 distinct industry sectors, brings together companies, capital and creativity on a national and international scale to help clients achieve their personal and strategic objectives.

McGladrey Capital Markets is affiliated with RSM McGladrey Inc., a professional services firm providing accounting, tax and business consulting. Both firms are indirect subsidiaries of H&R Block Inc. (NYSE: HRB), the world’s preeminent tax services provider. McGladrey Capital Markets is also a member of RSM International, a worldwide network of professional services firms.

McGladrey Capital Markets’ international headquarters are located in Costa Mesa, Calif. It also has offices in Chicago, Boston, Dallas, New York and London. The firm is a member of FINRA and SIPC.