ACG St. Louis Emerging 20 Session 3: The Cross Functional M&A Team (By Invitation Only)

Joe Mantovani’s practice focuses on a broad range of corporate and transactional matters with widespread experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, cross-border transactions, joint ventures, and private equity.  His clients consist of companies in all stages of existence, from startups to privately held businesses and large publicly traded companies. 

Joe spent years as an in-house attorney for a privately held manufacturing company where he expanded the breadth of his skill set and developed a deep rooted understanding of the “business side” of key commercial transactions.  He is passionate about being a dedicated strategic business advisor for his clients. 

Joe serves on the ACG St. Louis Board of Directors as the President-Elect. He previously served as the chair of the Emerging Leaders and STL Emerging 20 Program Committees.

Bethany Michel joined Harbour Group in 2014 as Director of Corporate Development.  In 2019, Ms. Michel was promoted to Managing Director.  Ms. Michel has responsibility for the Control Solutions and SpotSee groups.

Immediately prior to joining Harbour Group, Ms. Michel led the U.S. Buyout fund investments for Northern Trust’s private equity fund of funds program.  She was previously with Freeport Financial where she underwrote senior debt transactions for leveraged buyouts and GE Capital where she was a collateral examiner.

Ms. Michel earned her MBA from The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and her BS in finance from the University of Illinois.

She has served on the ACG St. Louis STL Emerging 20 Program Committee since it's inception in 2019.

Carter Smith is a Vice President with ButcherJoseph & Co.’s investment banking team. He has been involved in a variety of transactions including mergers and acquisitions, valuation advisory, and leveraged recapitalizations. His investment banking experience includes engagements for a broad range of industries including healthcare, insurance, and homebuilding.

Before joining the firm, Carter helped launch and raise capital for Arch Grants, a 501(c)(3) initiative that awards capital grants to successful start-up businesses located in the St. Louis area.

After completing secondary education at Eton College in Berkshire, England, Carter earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Princeton University. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree in entrepreneurship and marketing from Washington University’s Olin School of Business.

Carter has served on the ACG St. Louis STL Emerging Program Committee since it's inception in 2019.

Kelsey McGonigle’s practice encompasses all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, drawing on her diverse experience in transactions ranging from asset purchases to equity transactions and debt financing. She frequently drafts transaction documents and performs due diligence on behalf of buyers and sellers. In addition to her M&A practice, Kelsey regularly advises closely held businesses on business succession planning, working with families to ensure a smooth transition of ownership to the next generation. She also drafts commercial contracts and advises on other general business matters including corporate governance matters and entity formation and dissolution. Kelsey assists in non-profit formations and
mergers as well.

Kelsey serves on the ACG St. Louis Board of Directors, chairing the Emerging Leaders and STL Emerging 20 Program Committees. She previously served as a Board Director.

Ryan Meesey is a Partner in RubinBrown’s Business Advisory Services Group. Ryan has over 12 years of experience providing consulting services to clients in a variety of industries including, but not limited to, manufacturing and distribution, food and beverage, healthcare, life sciences and technology, renewable energy and construction.  These services include transaction due diligence, mergers and acquisitions consulting, the valuation of businesses and financial assets / liabilities, and financial modeling and forecasting. Ryan has advised on over 100 transactions with aggregate deal value in excess of $1.0 billion and has valued several hundred companies, worth several billion dollars in aggregate enterprise value, for transaction, tax, and financial reporting purposes.

Ryan is a 2021 graduate of the ACG St. Louis STL Emerging 20 Program and now serves on the committee.

Adrian “Tripp” Kahle III is a professional commercial banker with 10 years of experience in the financial industry wherein he proactively negotiates, underwrites, originates and services credit facilities for commercial clients. Recently, he served 5 years as a Middle Market RM (also previously a PM) at Commerce Bank in St. Louis.

Prior to Commerce he spent more than 5 years with various enterprises, including 5 years as an auditor – 3 years with Mallinckrodt and 2 years at Express Scripts.

In addition, Tripp is an avid networker and is active in the community, serving on the alumni board of Chaminade College Prep, the Finance Committee of The Salvation Army of Greater St. Louis and various planning positions for various parades that occur in the Community. Tripp has served on the ACG St. Louis STL Emerging 20 Committee since it's inception in 2019.

Tripp is a graduate of St. Louis University and holds a B.S. in Business, with a concentration in Finance, Accounting.