Linda Mertz

Linda Mertz is a CPA and the founder, president, and CEO of Mertz Associates, Inc., a boutique middle-market mergers-and-acquisitions advisory firm headquartered in Rubicon, Wisconsin (greater Milwaukee area). She has more than 25 years of M&A experience specializing in the sale and purchase of manufacturing, distribution, and business-service companies, and the firm states she has personally closed over 100 M&A transactions and draws on insight from more than 200 completed deals.

She holds a B.A. in Accounting from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (where she was a Beta Gamma Sigma honoree) and an Executive MBA with honors from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She is a founding member of AICA (the Alliance of International Corporate Advisors) and a past president and chairperson of the International Network of M&A Partners, a global network of M&A specialists.

Beyond her firm, Mertz has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, including Skyline Technologies, Services Plus, Moore Oil, OwnersEdge, the Ice Age Trail Alliance, the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), and TEMPO Milwaukee. She has been recognized with a "Woman of Influence" award and an ACG Meritorious Service Award, is a frequent speaker and panelist on M&A topics, and has been featured by BizTimes Milwaukee among "Notable Women on Corporate Boards." Personally, she and her husband Alan created Wetland Woods Farm, a private nature preserve.

• Advisory, not check-writing: Mertz Associates guides owners of privately held middle-market companies through sell-side and buy-side M&A, private-equity transactions, and management/employee buyouts — it earns advisory fees rather than deploying seed capital.
• Sector concentration: Manufacturing, distribution, and business-service companies; documented sectors include industrial/consumer-products manufacturing, metal fabrication, electronics, food, healthcare services, IT, and technology hardware.
• Process-driven matchmaking: In engagements, the firm runs a structured buyer/target search — e.g., screening hundreds of candidates down to a qualified short list — reflecting a rigorous, fit-and-culture-focused deal approach.
• Stated ethos: The firm emphasizes "objective guidance built on proven M&A experience," and Mertz is described as known for "asking incisive questions that clarify vision and reveal implementation paths."