Entries by Al Statz

M&A Advisor Tip: Buy your buddy a beer, not experience

I’m all for friendships, but I wouldn’t risk my financial future on one. Unfortunately, many business owners do just that. If you’re like me, many of your professional advisors have become your friends, and you want to honor those relationships. But M&A is a specialist’s world. If you engage your usual advisor (e.g., attorney) to conduct a business sale and they are not a specialist in M&A transactions, you could be […]

Exit Strategies Group Announces Successful Acquisition of Tri-Phase Automation

(Milwaukee, WI) – Exit Strategies Group, Inc. is pleased to announce that it recently served as exclusive M&A advisor to the shareholders of Tri-Phase Automation, IMAC Motion Control and i-Tech (“Tri-Phase”) on their successful sale to Flow Control Group (FCG), a portfolio company of KKR & Co. Tri-Phase is a leading regional automation solutions provider […]

M&A Advisor Tip – Know Your Priorities

The market is still strong, and sellers are receiving multiple offers, but the buyers they choose aren’t always the ones with the biggest checks. Would you take a lower price to ensure that the buyer’s culture fits yours? How about a million-dollar price cut if it meant getting all cash at close and avoiding years […]

Exit Strategies Group Advises Shaltz Automation in Sale

(Flint, MI) — Exit Strategies Group, Inc. recently served as the exclusive financial advisor to Shaltz Automation, a leading regional industrial automation solutions provider, in its acquisition by Flow Control Group (FCG), a portfolio company of KKR & Co. Inc.  Deal terms were not disclosed.  Headquartered in Flint, Michigan, Shaltz Automation provides advanced industrial automation […]

The happiest business owners know what’s next

I had the privilege of chatting with Bo Burlingham, former executive editor for Inc. magazine and author of several books, including Finish Big: How Great Entrepreneurs Exit Their Companies on Top. We talked about one of the key discoveries that led to the book, namely that so many business owners were unhappy after selling their […]

M&A Advisor Tip: Time Kills All Deals

More than purchase price or structure, time is the most likely reason a business sale will fail. Time breeds frustration and fatigue. From irascible attorneys to disorganized brokers and licensing issues, plenty of factors can bog down a deal. Sooner or later one party or the other gets fed up and rationalizes, “It wasn’t meant […]

M&A’s dirty playbook

If you work in M&A, you can take a class on how to take advantage of people. It’s true! Buyers can go through mergers and acquisitions training, at some of the most prestigious universities, learning how to pay as little as possible for a family-owned business or privately held company. M&A transactions are complex, and […]

M&A Deal Terms: Fall 2021

You may have heard – it’s a bifurcated market. Declining caps on general indemnification against breaches of representations & warranties [1] had been a feature of the seller’s market for lower middle market businesses, going back well before the pandemic. Average caps have remained in the range of 15-16% of Total Enterprise Value (TEV) since […]