2024 Year in Review: Nicholas Venditto, Certilman Balin Adler & Hyman LLP

What was your greatest professional accomplishment or most notable project, deal, or transaction in 2024?

Our firm represented Long Island Waste Services in connection with a recapitalization involving a significant equity investment from Terramont Infrastructure Partners, a middle-market focused infrastructure investment firm. Long Island Waste Services is a locally owned and operated waste management company. The transaction, which closed in August 2024, was complex and required significant cooperation between our firm’s corporate and lending groups. Everyone involved in the deal, on all sides, worked hard to complete the transaction. It was a true team effort, and our firm enjoyed being a part of it.

What emerging trends will drive investment and development in 2025?

In general, the M&A market is expected to be up in 2025. It is anticipated that interest rates will continue to fall, and many people believe that regulations will be loosened under the new administration. Those factors, coupled with evidence that investors are ready to deploy capital, could lead to increased activity. One specific deal trend I have noticed is the increased use of earn-outs. Reaching agreement on price has been increasingly difficult for buyers and sellers over the last few years, and earn-outs have been used to try and bridge that gap. I believe that will continue in 2025.