Time Kills Deals: A Masterclass on Surviving Distressed M&A with Phil Cassel | This Is M&A

The cash runs thin. Debt piles up. The market turns against you. This is distress. In this episode of This Is M&A, Phil Cassel, Managing Director at Cassel Salpeter & Co., breaks down the early warning signs most founders miss, the playbook for protecting value under pressure, and why moving fast is the single most important thing you can do when things start to go wrong. Phil started his career at Alvarez & Marsal in the Turnaround and Restructuring Group, worked in private equity at Rialto Capital, and joined his father in building Cassel Salpeter & Co. into a 15-person boutique investment bank based in Miami. He has guided companies through distressed M&A, bankruptcy proceedings, and healthy transactions across healthcare, manufacturing, technology, consumer products, and more. In this episode, you will learn: • The early warning signs that your business may be heading toward distress • Why the most common mistake in distressed M&A is not moving fast enough • How to retain key people, manage suppliers, and preserve value when cash is tight • Why bankruptcy is not a dirty word and how it can actually protect jobs • What a Quality of Earnings report does for your deal and why it pays for itself • How lessons from distressed deals apply directly to healthy transactions Learn more about Phil and Cassel Salpeter & Co.: Website: https://casselsalpeter.com/ LinkedIn:   / philipcassel   Email: [email protected] 🔗 Connect with your host, Steven Monterroso: LinkedIn:   / determined2succeed   Follow This Is M&A Podcast on LinkedIn:   / this-is-m-a   Want to become our next guest? Sign up or subscribe: https://sharevault.com/this-is-ma/ Listen now on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms. 00:00 Intro 02:25 Early Warning Signs 08:31 The Distressed Playbook 10:59 Why "Bankruptcy" Isn't a Dirty Word 15:33 Lessons for Healthy Deals 18:14 What is a Quality of Earnings (QoE)? 28:57 Phil's Journey #thisismapodcast #mna #distressedma #restructuring #privateequity #founders #exitplanning #turnaround