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ON THE MOVE CLAIRE RUTKOWSKI NAMED BENTLEY SYSTEMS’ CIO Bentley Systems announced that Claire Rutkowski has joined Bentley as chief information officer and will lead Bentley’s global IT organization, shaping and delivering a technology agenda across Bentley’s global business. She will collaborate with executive and business leadership teams to ensure Bentley leverages the most advanced technology solutions to achieve the business goals of Bentley and its users. Rutkowski joins the company’s executive cabinet and reports to David Hollister, operations advancement officer at Bentley. Rutkowski comes to Bentley from MWH Global where she served as CIO and was responsible for delivering IT strategy, services, and support to 7,000 engineering professionals globally. Commenting on Rutkowski’s appointment, David Hollister said, “Claire is an accomplished IT professional and a strategic thinker who has a history of executing with precision. Her career has thrived with a commitment to quality, a passion for collaboration, and a knack for helping her colleagues leverage technology to improve the way they collaborate across global teams. She also brings to Bentley a valuable perspective gained from serving as CIO at one of our large user organizations. We are confident that Claire will energetically advance our IT organization and our cloud

ALION SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY NAMES NEW CTO Alion Science and Technology announced that Christopher Zember will join the company as chief technology officer. “Christopher is well known for his vision and leadership throughout the DoD community,” said Bahman Atefi, CEO of Alion. “His background with the DoD gives him a unique perspective on the technology needs of the military services. We’re pleased that our customers will be able to benefit from his insights and experience.” Formerly, Zember was director of the Center for Technology and National Security Policy, a DoD think tank that draws on expertise from the military, academia, and industry to address pressing problems of national security. “Alion is positioned to respond to the DoD’s need for technology solutions that are developed and fielded quickly and more cost-effectively,” Zember explained. “I have long been aware of Alion’s combination of engineering and technical skill and deep understanding of the customers’ challenges. All this means Alion is well-suited to helping the DoD meet both emerging threats and evolving opportunities, and I am very excited to be helping them achieve those goals.” He holds a master’s degree in public administration from American University.

and managed services infrastructure to the next level, bringing further innovation, quality, credibility, and value to our internal stakeholders and external users alike.” Rutkowski holds a bachelor’s degree from Penn State University, a professional project management certification, and a specialist certificate in IT project management. She has won several awards, notably iCMG ’s Global CIO of the Year Award, Constructech ’s Top 50 Women in Construction Award, a Stevie Award for Women in Business, and a Vision Award for the application of virtual reality to engineering and construction projects. PHILULLMAN,PE,JOINSRPSKLOTZASSOCIATESAS DALLAS TRANSPORTATION MANAGER RPS Klotz Associates is expanding its transportation practice in Dallas with the addition of Phillip Ullman , PE, as transportation manager. Ullman holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Texas at Arlington and brings 30 years of experience to his role at RPS Klotz Associates. He is a roadway geometric design and preliminary engineering specialist with extensive experience in major investment studies, feasibility studies, preliminary engineering evaluations, environmental analysis and final roadway design. Ullman is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

bonuses for hitting certain performance metrics, stock in the buying firm, compensation bumps, liquid assets (cash and A/R), retained by the seller – these are all different forms of compensation that we can use to get to that $5 million fig- ure. To determine the form and the timing of the payment, you have to understand the motivations of the seller – why are they participating in this negotiation? What are their challenges? What are their goals? Just asking what the seller wants will reduce the time spent negotiating and will make for a much more pleasant experience. These are just a few examples of the wisdom shared by M&A experts during our panel. The decision to pursue an M&A growth strategy – especially if your firm has not done so in the past – is a bold move that can change the course of your company’s future in ways that are impossible to know on the front-end. If your firm is considering M&A in the future, I have one more piece of insight from this panel that I’d like to share: every participant agreed that they are thrilled with their firm’s decision to pursue M&A as part of their growth strategy. JAMIE CLAIRE KISER is Zweig Group’s director of M&A services. Contact her at jkiser@zweiggroup.com. “Every participant agreed that they are thrilled with their firm’s decision to pursue M&A as part of their growth strategy.”

JAMIE CLAIRE KISER, from page 9

the A/E industry are worth the premium. Your regular corpo- rate attorney (or your brother-in-law public defender), is not oriented at closing deals. Attorneys are generally focused on identifying risks. M&A attorneys are focused on finding the way to the closing table with solutions to these risks. 4)Entrepreneurial firms are creative and opportunistic. The less restrictive your criteria for identifying a target firm, the more likely you are to find a great deal that makes sense. When you have a stringent set of parameters that the seller must meet for your firm to consider them, once you find that unicorn, you’ll end up overpaying. Each of the panelists identified a few examples of unexpected firms that ended up combining effectively. “The decision to pursue an M&A growth strategy – especially if your firm has not done so in the past – is a bold move that can change the course of your company’s future in ways that are impossible to know on the front-end.” 5)The purchase price is not what you think. M&A neophytes often express concern that they cannot afford the cash outlay for a firm valued at, say, $5 million. The value can be paid in a variety of ways, and no one is going to need to pay $5 mil- lion at closing in cash. Notes paid over time, incentives and

THE ZWEIG LETTER November 14, 2016, ISSUE 1176

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