Post Merger Integration Events

In The conversations that move post-merger integration forward don't happen on LinkedIn. They happen at a handful of conferences each year where operating partners, integration leads, corp dev teams, and PE platform CFOs work through what's actually changing in value creation — pricing, AI adoption, talent strategy, separation playbooks, synergy realization. Stonehill maintains this calendar for clients and contacts who want a curated, accurate view of the events worth time and travel budget. Every entry below is a real, verified event — dates and venues confirmed against the organizer.

Upcoming Events in 2026

• SuperReturn International — June 8–12, 2026 — InterContinental Hotel, Berlin The largest private equity event in the world. 6,000+ attendees, 2,000+ LPs, 3,000+ GPs. Less PMI-focused than the operating partner events, but the macro and fundraising conversations here shape what platforms are willing to do with their portfolios next year.

• PDI New York Forum — September 15–16, 2026 — Convene 30 Hudson Yards, New York Private Debt Investor's flagship North American private credit conference. Direct lending, distressed, CLOs. Relevant for PMI practitioners whose deals are increasingly financed in the private credit market — the financing terms shape integration timelines and synergy commitments.

• PEI Operating Partners Forum New York — October 20–21, 2026 — Convene Brookfield Place, 225 Liberty Street, New York The most concentrated gathering of PE operating partners in North America — 500+ practitioners working on portfolio performance, value creation, integration, AI, and operational excellence. For middle-market and upper-middle-market PMI work, this is the highest-signal event of the year. The agenda consistently includes deep-dive sessions on integration playbooks, value creation execution, and post-close operating model design.

• SuperReturn North America (Fall) — November 17–18, 2026 — Convene 360 Madison, New York The Q4 edition of SuperReturn North America. 800+ attendees, 250+ LPs. Timing aligns with year-end allocation decisions and 2027 fundraising planning. Less operationally focused than the PEI events, but a strong read on where LP capital is heading and what that means for portfolio activity in the year ahead.

The Annual Circuit

These are the events worth building into a recurring calendar — they happen every year, in the same general window, and they're where the practitioner-level conversation about PMI and value creation actually compounds.

• ACG DealMAX — Late April, ARIA Resort & Casino, Las Vegas. 3,200+ middle-market dealmakers. The most efficient deal-sourcing event in the middle market — heavy on investment bankers, corp dev, and PE buy-side. Less PMI-deep than the PEI events, but unmatched for understanding what's about to come into the integration funnel.

• SuperReturn North America (Spring) — Mid-March, InterContinental Miami. 800+ senior leaders. The LP/GP fundraising conversation that shapes platform behavior for the rest of the year.

• PEI Operating Partners Human Capital Forum — Late March, Convene 360 Madison, New York. 300+ operating partners focused on talent, leadership, organizational design — the people side of value creation, which is where most PMI work succeeds or fails.

• PEI Operating Partners Forum New York — October, New York. The annual flagship. Detailed above.

• SuperReturn North America (Fall) — November, New York. The Q4 capital allocation event. Detailed above.

• Transaction Advisors M&A Conferences — Multiple regional events through the year. Smaller, more legal-and-tax-anchored than the PE-operator events, but a useful complement for deal teams working on structuring questions that affect integration design.

What We Track at These Events

The PMI conversation has shifted significantly over the past two years. A few themes we pay close attention to when we attend or follow programming:

• AI in value creation execution — how operating partners are actually deploying AI inside portfolio companies (not the pitch-deck version)

• Carve-out and TSA management at scale — separation timelines compressing, TSA exit planning becoming central to deal economics

• Pricing as a value creation lever — pricing initiatives have moved from optional to expected inside PE operating playbooks

• Talent and operating model design — the leadership layer that actually drives adoption, and how PE firms are professionalizing it

• Integration speed vs. integration depth — the recurring trade-off in middle-market deals, especially in roll-up platforms

Connect With Stonehill

If you're attending any of the events above and want to compare notes on an integration in flight, a platform decision on the horizon, or how a specific operating model question is playing out across portfolios — let's set up time. We work with middle-market and PE-backed operators on PMI, carve-outs, operating model design, and the messy operational realities that don't make it into conference panels. The best conversations usually happen at the side meetings, not the main stage.