Trust
The History of the Association for Corporate Growth, 1954 – 2011
by
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The Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), an association of professionals involved in middle market corporate growth and development, began in New York City in 1954 with fewer than 50 members and grew to become a powerful international organization of 14,000 dealmakers. How did ACG achieve such growth to become the most influential force in the middle market M&A community today?
In TRUST, authors Judith Iacuzzi and Carl Wangman answer that question by presenting a colorful history of the rise of the association. Iacuzzi and Wangman interviewed more than sixty ACG leaders, and in so doing have revealed the previously untold story of ACG’s remarkable ascent in the middle marketplace of corporate growth and development.
The reader will learn from stories of others who knew him well that Peter Hilton became the foremost leader building ACG in New York. A corporate maven who preached about divestitures before their time, Hilton realized that ACG’s success lay in its own growth and development. Tom Smith and Don Reed recall how they and other members in New York needed a bigger network to gain most value from the organization. More than a decade after its incorporation, ACG branched out and away from the New York hub. Within four years, new chapters in Chicago (1968), Toronto (1971) and Los Angeles (1972) developed. Readers will gain insight into the formidable challenges these chapters faced in fueling an international organization while building local entities.
With the inclusion of the Toronto chapter, ACG was officially international. As if to underline the primary importance of globalization, the first chapter collaboration, a conference in 1972 called InterGrowth, took over the Camino Real Hotel in Mexico City. The InterGrowth conference became an annual event. Festive, deal-focused and educational, readers will learn how it became the glue that bound together some fiercely independent chapters.
Many organizations come and go. ACG has, however, maintained a viability despite major obstacles such as an extended rocky mergers and acquisitions environment and unprecedented economic change in the U.S. and world. ACG’s survival demonstrates how individuals who found their professional needs met by the organization gave back to it. Their energy and commitments made ACG stronger, more influential and an enterprise of unique value that today drives corporate growth and development all over the world.
For those associated with the organization and others involved in professional association work and community building, TRUST provides an invaluable blueprint and an entertaining history.
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About the Book
“The history of ACG is the history of US private capital. A must-read for all dealmakers.”
—Durant D. Schwimmer, Senior Managing Director and Editor/Publisher “On the Left” The Carlyle Group
“An inside look into the creation and growth of the ACG network-the middle market deal ecosystem.”
—Andy Rice, ACG Global Chairman 2011-2012, SVP, The Jordan Company
“TRUST is an intimate, insiders’ look at the key people and critical decisions that drove the growth of ACG to become the home of middle-market dealmakers.” —Gary LaBranche, President & CEO, Association for Corporate Growth
“From a small gathering of like-minded professionals with diverse functional expertise to the premier global organization for middle-market dealmakers, a fascinating look at the ABCs of ACG. “
—Paul Stewart, PS Capital Partners, ACG Global Chairman 2007-2008
“The first real account as to how a global association was built for the middle mar-ket deal community.”
—Michael Carr, Managing Director, BAC Investments, ACG Global Chairman 2010-2011
“Driving middle market growth captures the essence of ACG and all that it stands for......a dynamic, growth oriented, entrepreneurial organization. A must read for all in the middle market deal making community!”
—Harris Smith, ACG Global Chairman 2008-2009, Partner, Grant Thornton
“An insightful story of how a relationship between two New York City deal professionals in 1954 led to the creation of the global mid-market deal community that we all know today as ACG!”
—Stephen V. Prostor, Director, Citi Private Bank, President-ACG New York
About the Author
In TRUST, authors Judith Iacuzzi and Carl Wangman answer that question by presenting a colorful history of the rise of the association. Iacuzzi and Wangman interviewed more than sixty ACG leaders, and in so doing have revealed the previously untold story of ACG’s remarkable ascent in the middle marketplace of corporate growth and development.