CEO Paul Villella of HireStrategy recently shared why he sold his company ─ despite not actively looking to sell ─ and the results one year after the acquisition. Paul addressed a packed room of CEOs, CFOs and senior-level executives from the Washington-DC area at “Grow or Die: A Panel Discussion on Middle Market M&A” hosted …
Tag: Not-for-sale company
Family Dollar and Dollar Tree Finally Reach Deal to Merge
Family Dollar and Dollar Tree finally have reached a deal to merge for $8.5 billion. This merger comes after months of negotiations between Family Dollar, Dollar Tree and Dollar General. Family Dollar and Dollar Tree originally came to an agreement last July, but Dollar General quickly stepped in with a higher offer. Interestingly, although Dollar …
If 70% of Acquisitions Fail, Why Even Try?
With a 70% failure rate for acquisitions, it seems like the odds are against you from the beginning. Before you get scared off, however, let’s take a closer look at what that 70% means. The 70% failure rate is mainly based on large, publicly traded transactions because large transactions must be reported to the SEC, …
Acquisitions: Every Company Is For Sale
Why actively pursuing not-for-sale companies can lead to a better acquisition than a for-sale opportunity. When searching for acquisition prospects, most people only consider for-sale acquisitions. Usually these are offered by investment bankers, who carry a “book” of candidate companies. Restricting your search to for-sale opportunities is usually a mistake. I encourage clients to actively …
Maximizing Your Resources with Privately Held, Not-for-Sale Acquisitions
Sprint has dropped its bid to acquire T-Mobile due to regulatory pressure. Large, public transactions must be reported and should be regulated by law, of course, but this is an unfortunate setback for Sprint. After investing resources putting together the deal and lobbying for months, the company must walk away from it because of external …
Finding the Best Acquisition Opportunities
“The best opportunities are the ones we’re pursuing and not the other way around.” This comment in The Wall Street Journal from Smadar Levi, CFO of MyHeritage.com, is one I wholeheartedly agree with. She is quoted in an article about the growing number of startups seeking to be acquired. With fewer financing options available to …
In Facebook – WhatsApp Deal Strategy Trumps Numbers
Facebook announced it will buy WhatsApp for $19 billion on February 19, 2014. There is no way that I can, in any credible means, justify or explain the purchase price because it’s absurd in my opinion. WhatsApp has no advertising revenues and charges each of its 450 million active users a yearly fee of just …
Top Mistake Leaders Make When Pursuing M&A
Many leaders take a reactive rather than proactive approach when it comes to M&A. They often realize that their organic growth is stagnant and they’ve got some money they can leverage, so they decide to make an acquisition. What do they do? They go find for-sale companies or respond to those that have found them. …
Don’t Let Deal-Fever Derail Your Strategy
It’s that time of year again. The holiday season is a great occasion to spend time with family, celebrate with friends, give to charity, drink hot cocoa – and of course buy presents. Beginning with Black Friday, holiday sales are out in full swing with retailers trying to entice consumers with the lowest prices on …
How to Buy a “Not-for-Sale” Company: Sell Your Vision
As an M&A consultant, I’m often asked exactly how we persuade the owners of not-for-sale companies to sell. My years of experience speaking with owners and facilitating acquisitions makes the process easier, but the real secret is understanding owner psychology. In contacting an owner, you can’t lay out a detailed acquisition plan. The key is …
