This week we chat with Tom Lesch, Director, Livingstone. Livingstone is a global M&A and debt advisory firm with six international offices including Chicago. Its core industry sectors include Business Services, Consumer, Healthcare, Industrial and Media & Technology.

The Lead Left: Tom, it’s been a while since we last talked. What’s new at your firm?

Tom Lesch: Livingstone has continued to grow internationally and domestically. In May we announced the opening of an office in Stockholm giving us 6 offices on three continents. In the U.S., we continue to grow our team in Chicago and recently completed the buildout of our office in the River North neighborhood. We are also opening an office in Los Angeles later this year.

TLL: What does it mean to be an international middle market firm?

TL: We all know the world is getting smaller and so it’s harder to be relevant if you don’t have global reach. Being global isn’t that unique as you go up market, but in our space – enterprise values between $25-$250 million –