Provides M and A support, including due diligence, analytical support, acquisition integration, valuation analysis and supplemental financial reviews.
www.reesepartners.com
We Sell Companies with $5 million To $50 million in Annual Sales.
www.WoodbridgeGrp.com
Business Tactics & Strategies Rady Center for ExecEd at UCSD
www.Rady.UCSD.edu/Exec /Learn
You do. Buyers feed on smart guys like you. Don’t be their next meal.
www.ClaytonCapitalPartners.com
Free, independent directory matches you with 5 Star advisors near you.
www.paladinregistry.com
Discover independence with a firm committed to helping you succeed.
www.1DBReps.com
Sarbanes-Oxley Consulting Services Financial & Management Consulting
www.iccspartners.com
Companies 2M to 15M, our focus nationwide, no upfront fee
Mergers-Acquisitions.com/Mergers
Avoid common pitfalls, lower risk. Retain key people, Increase synergy
www.BeyondTheArc.com
Target Company Search, Valuations & Due Diligence. Boutique Firm.
www.AleutianCapital.com/aas
An independent merger and acquisition advisor that offers M&A advisory services to digital and traditional media, marketing and information businesses
www.admediapartners.com(Paid)
Assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and private financings; focused on the IT, communications and media industries worldwide.
www.broadview.com
BBH’s M&A professionals assist owner-managers of private and closely-held businesses with financial and strategic issues, including strategic alternatives for generating shareholder liquidity, recapitalizations, strategic acquisitions, joint ven...
www.bbh.com
Provider of financial advisory services, strategic planning, valuations and acquisitions as well as comprehensive tax planning and consultation.
www.bfccpas.com
Provider of factoring and invoice discounting services as well as acquisition financing.
www.city-inv.com
Financial advisors to companies in the UK and has focus on mid-sized and entrepreneurial companies. Applies expertise to companies acquiring or selling businesses, raising debt or equity finance, restructuring their operations or receiving appro...
www.cbcf.com
Services exclusively to the media, entertainment and communications industries around the globe. CEA represents buyers and sellers in arranging mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, joint ventures, strategic partnerships and trades.
www.ceaworldwide.com
Covington Associates has extensive experience assisting clients with all facets of the complex process of a merger, acquisition or divestiture transaction, and private placement.
www.covingtonassociates.com
Financing and advisory services include M&A advisory, project finance, equity, derivatives, investment grade debt and high yield debt.
www.csfb.com
Providers of acquisition services for financial and strategic buyers.
www.dinancompany.com
Specialist in providing acquisition capital and accounts receivable financing to healthcare providers nationwide.
www.healthcapitalinvestors.com
Provider of financial planning, wealth management, tax advisory and business valuation.
www.hollandcpas.com
Dedicated to providing its corporate finance services and senior-level expertise to mid-sized businesses often overlooked by the larger investment banking firms. Services include: mergers, acquisitions & divestitures; private placements of debt ...
www.hlhz.com
Principal services include corporate and specialised finance advice with respect to mergers and acquisitions and privatisations, project and export finance and arrangement, underwriting, syndication and distribution of debt products and primary ...
www.cibm.hsbc.com
Provider of M&A advisory services and business valuations to mid-market companies throughout the US and Europe. Specializing in receivable and credit service businesses, healthcare services, telecommunications and various other mid-market compan...
www.marionfinancial.com(Paid)
A middle market merger and acquisition (M&A) advisor headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Specializes in providing M&A adivory services to: private companies, public companies, and divisions or subsidiaries of Fortune 500 companies. Professionals h...
www.key.com
M&A specialists have developed industry-specific knowledge to provide clients with advice tailored to their needs.
www.ml.com
M&A staff provides a range of financial advisory services including acquisition and divestiture advisory, strategic partnerships and investments, fairness opinions, recapitalizations and restructurings, management buyouts and takeover defense. c...
www.morgankeegan.com
Mergers, Acquisitions and Restructuring Department (MARD) is responsible for structuring and executing a range of domestic and international transactions.
www.msdw.com
Mergers and Acquisitions Group advises "middle market" clients on various strategic assignments including: buy-side advisory, fairness opinions, sell-side advisory, reorganizations, restructurings, takeover defense and valuations.
www.cm1.prusec.com
Based in Canada, the Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) group assists clients in conceiving, analyzing, and executing: divestitures, acquisitions, mergers, public market take-overs, defense assignments, corporate restructurings and going private tr...
www.rbcds.com
One of the oldes regional investment banking firms in the US. Baird has extensive mergers, acquisitions and financial advisory experience, including buyer and seller advisory assignments, recapitalizations, stock repurchases, leveraged buyouts, ...
www.rwbaird.com
The firm's mergers & acquisitions experts have knowledge and experience in negotiating and executing: buy sides, sell sides, divestitures & exclusive sales, fairness opinions & valuations, strategic partnerships, and cross border transaction...
www.cowen.com
Provides M and A support, including due diligence, analytical support, acquisition integration, valuation analysis and supplemental financial reviews.
www.reesepartners.com (Paid)
Firm based in northern Italy providing corporate finance, merger and acquistion solutions and support in Europe.
www.strempel.it(Paid)
Clients receive financial and advisory needs from principal investing to private placements, from M&A advisory to capital raising in the public markets.
www.tweisel.com
Provider of fiscal, economic, and planning services for corporations and local governments.
www.tischlerassociates.com
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We Sell Companies with $5 million To $50 million in Annual Sales.
www.WoodbridgeGrp.com
Business Tactics & Strategies Rady Center for ExecEd at UCSD
www.Rady.UCSD.edu/Exec /Learn
Guide to Expanding through Acquisition
How to get more customers by buying themOf course, some small businesses scale naturally through franchising or by adding sales territories. But many simply reach a natural ceiling. It would be hard -- and probably uncompetitive -- to start a nationwide roofing or plumbing company, for instance.
That doesn't mean there's no room to grow your small busines empire. A cash-churning small business is a great excuse to size up and buy other small companies, in whatever field, if you can find the bargains.
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Consider pricing a business through a third-party
The Web is jammed full of database-type sites that list businesses and business opportunities for sale. They tend to make their money by charging a fee for brokering the deal (to the seller) and add-ons, like financing for the buyer. Do remember, though, that these are initial asking prices, not sales.
I recommend:
Among the biggest of these are VR Business Sales, BizBuySell.com, BizQuest.com, BusinessforSale.com, BusinessMart.com and Sunbelt Network.
Figure out how much you should pay
Valuing a business is a black art, to say the least. You'd need to be part accountant and at least part cowboy to get it right, since the task requires both a precise understanding of the numbers but also a willingness to stare the current owner in the eye figure out his or her real motivation in selling. Is the business falling apart? Or it is just time for the current owner to move on?
I recommend:
There are a number of professional valuation services, including Nationwide Valuations and FMV Opinions and straightforward appraisers, including American Value Metrics. A bit cheaper is software designed to run numbers based on industry tables, like ValueSource and ValueAdder. BizComps compiles actual sales by sector and geography over 10 years.
Get the money in line before you negotiate
The government will lend you the cash to buy an existing business. So will many banks if you have a decent track record in business.
I recommend:
Check the Small Business Administration first. BizBuyFinancing, a Web site, purports to guide you through the SBA process. Banks that actively seek small business loans include Regions, Wachovia, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank and Washington Mutual.
Feeling overwhelmed? Start off slow with some reading
Unless you have years under your belt running your own show, valuing and negotiating a business purchase can be hard to do overnight.
I recommend:
There are plenty of books, Web sites and courses to consider, of varying seriousness. Consultant Peter Siegel runs a blog on buying a business. You could download Toby Tatum's e-book guide for small business buying, or Richard Parker's similar product at Diomo. Park is endorsed by Donald Trump, who is in a similar business through his Trump University. Finally, entrepreneur Ken Hendricks has a succint, refreshing take on sizing up the opportunity at Inc. magazine.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide- The most commonly touted metric for value is cashflow. Watch out! The figure given is usually best year ever or otherwise inflated.
- You'll need access to several years of the company's books to understand what you are buying, and even then there are big caveats: Is the industry itself dying out? Is a major competitor opening across town? Why exactly does the current owner want out?
- Don't overpay for 'goodwill,' which is the reputation value of the business. It can be relatively simple to calculate the value of a company in terms of net assets. Less clear is the value of its brand. Banks won't loan for this cost, and you should point out that a retiring owner means goodwill walks out the door with him or her.








