Aaron Polack

Aaron Polack is the Head of Business Development and Principal at Lion Equity Partners, a Denver-based private equity firm specializing in corporate carve-outs and divestitures. He joined Lion Equity Partners in 2008 as an Associate and has been instrumental in building the firm's deal origination capabilities and corporate relationships over the past 17 years. In his role, Polack leads all investment origination efforts for the firm, including deal sourcing and evaluation, marketing, and add-on acquisition initiatives for portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Lion Equity, Aaron worked as an Investment Banking Analyst at J.P. Morgan, where he was responsible for financial valuation and analysis, due diligence, and evaluating M&A opportunities for mid-market companies in the Rocky Mountain region. He also held a position as an Analyst at PNC earlier in his career. Aaron earned his undergraduate degree from Allegheny College.

Aaron is widely recognized as a thought leader in corporate development and has become one of the most influential figures in the middle market M&A community. In 2020, he launched the Annual Corporate Development Report, a comprehensive survey of corporate executives that examines valuation multiples, best practices, and dealmaking trends. The 2022 edition, based on responses from 728 Corporate Development professionals, received significant industry attention and has become a go-to resource for understanding corporate M&A dynamics. The survey has grown dramatically, expanding from approximately 250 respondents in 2021 to over 700 in 2022.

Aaron's involvement with the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) has been extensive and transformative. He joined ACG's national board in 2018 and has been instrumental in shaping the organization's corporate programming. He founded and chaired the Strategic Acquirer Summit, now a cornerstone event at DealMAX, and also established the Corporate Development Summit at the Rocky Mountain Corporate Growth Conference. In 2023, he served as Chairman of DealMAX 2023, ACG's flagship annual conference. His leadership culminated in his election as ACG Board Chairman for the 2025-2026 term, representing the organization's commitment to corporate dealmakers and strategic acquirers.

Lion Equity Partners, where Aaron leads business development, focuses exclusively on acquiring divisions and non-core assets from larger corporations. The firm's investment strategy centers on corporate carve-outs and special situations that require both speed and certainty of execution. Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Denver with an additional office in Chicago, Lion Equity has developed deep expertise in navigating the complex divestiture process.

The firm targets small to middle-market businesses valued up to $50 million across diverse sectors including business services, software and technology, manufacturing, healthcare services, distribution, telecommunications, apparel/textiles, and print and publishing. Lion Equity's operationally-focused investment approach emphasizes creating value through a combination of operational improvements, organic growth initiatives, and strategic add-on acquisitions.

Aaron has been particularly successful in building relationships with corporate sellers and connecting with corporate executives to identify spin-out opportunities. When he joined Lion Equity in 2008, he did not have existing corporate relationships and had to build them from scratch, demonstrating his exceptional networking and relationship-building capabilities. His Annual Corporate Development Report findings reveal significant challenges in the corporate M&A ecosystem, including that 82% of corporate dealmakers reviewed fewer than 50 acquisition opportunities in 2021, 57% still use Excel spreadsheets to track deal pipelines, and only 28% of respondents rated their deal flow as "high quality" — insights that inform Lion Equity's differentiated sourcing strategy.