Displaying items tagged: finance

The two acquisitions ChoiceOne Financial Services Inc. closed over a 15-month period tripled the size of the Sparta-based bank holding company.

Greg Williams was looking for a company that could move global insurance brokerage Acrisure LLC into the world of artificial intelligence.

Hannah Lawrence remembered the car ride home after closing on the acquisition of her first business — a moment of brief panic.

As the COVID-19 pandemic was just starting to set in last spring, Jeff Lambert jotted down the words “positively legendary” on a sticky note.

As the economy abruptly ground to a halt last spring under COVID-19 restrictions, Jeff Ott stayed busy.

Since launching in July 2019, the Charter Growth Capital Fund has made five investments and raised $31 million to make minority investments in growing, middle-market companies that need growth capital.

Max Friar, managing partner at Grand Rapids-based M&A firm Calder Capital LLC, routinely found his company passing on potential clients because of the size of their businesses.

 The team at Grand Rapids-based private equity firm Auxo Investment Partners has a saying that every deal has to die once before it closes.

GRAND RAPIDS — The West Michigan venture capital fund that intends to invest in growing, minority-owned businesses has garnered attention from interested parties who want to replicate the model elsewhere in the U.S.

The $91 million Northpointe Bancshares Inc. netted in a private stock placement will help support further growth through mid-decade.

HOLLAND — Macatawa Bank Corp. increased earnings in the fourth quarter, although full-year results declined from the prior year.

Independent Bank Corp. posted strong earnings growth during 2020 based in part on a strong mortgage pipeline and despite pandemic-related challenges.

GRAND RAPIDS — The venture capital fund formed a year ago in Grand Rapids to invest in minority-owned businesses has netted $8.5 million in commitments from investors and aims to hit $10 million this year.

Huntington Bancshares Inc. intends to close 198 branch offices — about half of which are based in Meijer Inc. stores in Michigan — after completing the proposed $22 billion acquisition of Detroit-based TCF Financial Corp.

GRAND RAPIDS — Mercantile Bank Corp. ended 2020 with higher quarterly earnings despite the ongoing costs and economic turbulence from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The $15 million Sturgis Bancorp Inc. raised through a debt offering will go to support further growth across Southwestern Michigan.

The latest state effort to provide financial aid to Michigan small businesses and entertainment venues that are ailing from the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting restrictions has a relatively short application window based on previous demand.

TRAVERSE CITY — Insurance brokerage High Street Insurance Partners Inc. has acquired two more agencies, adding to the firm’s existing market presence in the eastern U.S. and expanding it into the Pacific Northwest.

ADA — Century Technology Group LLC looks to reload by pursuing acquisitions of technology companies that it can grow.

Michigan’s economy could stand to benefit in the years ahead as manufacturers move to reshore work to the U.S. after dealing with severe disruptions in their foreign supply chains when the coronavirus first surfaced in China.

The U.S. economy that got hammered by the COVID-19 pandemic this spring heads toward 2021 on the rebound, although a surge in cases during the fall and renewal of restrictions in many states may limit economic growth nationally early in the new year.

Wall Street dealt with its share of volatility in 2020, a year with a deep decline at the outset of the pandemic followed by a later rebound. Citing volatility in the stock market over the last few years, some investors have shifted toward safety in managing their money. Susan Vogel-Vanderson, the managing director for Fifth Third Private Bank in West Michigan, hopes the new year brings some certainty to financial markets. A trusts and estates attorney, Vogel-Vanderson also is monitoring what could happen to tax rates in 2021 under the Biden administration, particularly if Democrats take control of the U.S. Senate after the Georgia runoffs.

John Ruther joined the Grand Rapids office of O’Keefe Consulting LLC in July as managing director. The company, based in Bloomfield Hills, offers a range of services including turnaround and restructuring consulting, corporate finance and litigation support. Ruther spoke with MiBiz about his view that some of the business practices that employers adopted in the pandemic — remote work and accelerating the use of automation — will remain in place in 2021 and beyond.

A new $200 million fund to support growing businesses in Michigan intends to direct half of the capital it raises to financing minority-owned companies.

Raising capital for a startup company is never easy, though there are steps entrepreneurs with a dream and a vision can take to help their cause.

GRAND RAPIDS — The new managing partner for Grand Angels looks to tap his statewide contacts to build a bigger presence among early-stage investors.

The Chicago-area insurance brokerage firm that acquired Grand Rapids-based Lighthouse Group intends to look for other deals in Michigan.

GRAND RAPIDS — Angel investor group Grand Angels has named Dale Grogan as its new managing partner.

Compared to a year ago, fewer bankers expect their institutions to make an acquisition in the next 12 months, as they focus on navigating through the financial fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even with new COVID-19 restrictions in place for the next three weeks, Michigan sits “well positioned” to eventually recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new Comerica Inc. outlook.