Bio

Tom Walton is the founder and Managing Director of Greensboro, NC based Hanley, Hammill, Thomas LLC. Previously he was Vice President, Corporate Development, at Milwaukee-based Joy Global, Inc., (Nasdaq:JOYG), a multi-billion dollar worldwide leader in high-productivity mining solutions. In that role, he was responsible for leading all M&A activity across the globe. Throughout his M&A career, Tom has successfully led multiple domestic as well as cross-border transactions in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden and Thailand. He has been a leader in developing world-class tools and processes for successful strategy development, acquisition target identification, negotiation, due diligence and integration of acquisition targets in multiple industries. Prior to Joy Global, Mr. Walton was involved in mergers & acquisitions for over 11 years, at Milwaukee-based Brady Corporation (NYSE: BRC), a world leader in identification solutions, where he served as Director, Corporate Development. At Brady, he led numerous acquisition projects in the Americas, Asia and Europe, managing all facets of the acquisition process, from strategic planning, deal sourcing, financial analysis, due diligence, negotiation, and on to closing and integration. Tom was the senior dealmaker at Brady Corporation when the company won the ACG 2006 Outstanding Corporate Growth Award. Mr. Walton has been a featured speaker and panelist at various M&A events around the globe including ACG InterGrowth, CIPEF (China International Private Equity Forum in Tianjin, China), The Deal Corporate Dealmaker Forum in New York as well as numerous other M&A seminars and events throughout the world. Mr. Walton has served on the Board of Directors of Mid Valley Industries, a portfolio company of Goldner, Hawn, Johnson and Morrison, currently serves on the ACG Wisconsin Board of Directors where he previously held the title of President. Mr. Walton has also served a number of years on the ACG Global Board of Directors.