The kids are back in school, the sun is still shining, and there’s a hint of fall in the air. But have your acquisition plans been accomplished? Are you feeling the need to accelerate your acquisition timeline? Come join the 15+ buyers that trust Calder’s buy-side team to deliver. As a team this year, Calder has already closed 32 deals and we currently have 27 under LOI. We’re feeling bullish about breaking our record of closing 42 deals last year! (currently locating some wood to knock on…) If you’re a serious buyer, the time to act is now. Don’t miss the bus! Select Seller Leads Developed in August $60M Revenue Fuel Distribution Company On the hunt for a fuel distribution company, Calder Analyst, Robert Janei’s hard work paid off when he was at long last able to connect with the owner of this company. Their discussion opened the opportunity for the owner to learn how Calder could help connect him with a buyer who shared the same vision as he for his company. The owner later quoted, “It was Robert’s persistence that ultimately made me want to pick up the phone and it turned out to be a great introduction for all of us.” $22M EBITDA […]
July’s Off-Market Sellers
Despite receiving many “out of office” automatic responses in July, Calder’s buy-side team set a new record with 58 off-market leads uncovered! With the economy giving mixed signals, investors have pounced on available opportunities. Persistence (multiple contact points) has been instrumental in our success. It is crucial to be planting seeds early and often as our team initially contacted some of the leads developed in July over a year ago! Are you planting seeds? Select Seller Leads Developed in July $15M EBITDA Foam Product Manufacturer In search of strategic acquisitions in Michigan, Calder Project Manager, Parker Schaap, prospected this company on behalf of our client. After ignoring Parker’s first calls and emails, the owner eventually reached back out and explained that he might be willing to have a discussion if it remained confidential. He had hoped to sell the business to his son, however, that did not seem to be working out as planned. We executed an NDA with the owner and he is now in the process of pulling together information so that Calder and our client can value his business. $7M EBITDA Consumable Medical Products Manufacturer In search of proprietary product manufacturers across the US, Calder Project […]
Keys to Success as a Business Buyer
Buying a business is never an easy process. It is time-consuming, emotionally draining, and capital-intensive, and the outcome remains uncertain until the ink is dry. All too often we have seen inexperienced buyers let promising deals slip through their fingers because they do not understand all of the important elements of driving a deal home. The Calder team put our heads together to review and analyze what historically successful buyers have in common. Interestingly, common themes emerged that we will dive into below. Keys to Success as a Business Buyer Maintaining an Open Mind: Be open to pursuing sellers that match most of your criteria. Do not disqualify quickly, there will always be something to critique. View imperfections as areas for improvement. It is rare that you will find a business-for-sale that checks all of your boxes. Meeting Face to Face: Meet the seller face-to-face as soon as possible. Talk to the seller about their goals and hopes in a transition. Find out what is important to them. Exude confidence and paint a picture of why you are the ideal buyer. Outline expectations post-transaction so the seller understands what is to come. Involvement of Decision Makers: We understand that the […]
June’s Off-Market Sellers
If we have learned anything about entering an economic contraction, it is that change presents enormous opportunities for those ready to act. American entrepreneurship thrives in tough times and the strong survive. Think back to the 2008 housing market crash where ready buyers pounced on discount price real estate acquisitions. While times seem dire, the economy will recover, the stock market will hit new record highs, and interest rates will settle and likely even reverse course. The bottom line is that now is the time to act. How are you finding a distressed business for sale? Calder’s buy-side team has a proven process for finding distressed opportunities. Check out our process here. Select Seller Leads Developed in June Interested in Working With Us? Calder works with clients on a guaranteed basis, so if we don’t deliver our clients don’t pay. Check out some of our current clients here. Alternatively, if you enter your criteria here our system will automatically alert you to any current or future opportunities, we are representing that are of interest to you. Be advised, these engaged sellers are represented by us and selling through a competitive bid process. If you are interested or know of a potentially interested party, please contact: Sam […]
Calder vs. Traditional Buy-Side Firms
Our team is often asked how we’re different than any other buy-side firm. Well… we’re nothing like them! Calder vs. Traditional Buy-Side Firms
Finding A Distressed Business for Sale
Recent headlines read, “Elon Musk has a super bad feeling about the economy,” and “Jamie Dimon predicts an economic hurricane this year” meanwhile companies are freezing new hires and cutting their existing workforce. Buyers and banks are acting conservatively, bracing for rising prices and tampering down revenue projections. Investments are being put on hold due to uncertainty and buyers are questioning if now is the right time to pursue an acquisition. If we have learned anything about entering an economic contraction, it is that change presents enormous opportunities for those ready to act. American entrepreneurship thrives in tough times and the strong survive. Think back to the 2008 housing market crash where ready buyers pounced on discount price real estate acquisitions. While times seem dire, the economy will recover, the stock market will hit new record highs, and interest rates will settle and likely even reverse course. The bottom line is that now is the time to act. How are you finding a distressed business for sale? More sellers are coming out of the woodworks than ever before. The data proves this – as a firm Calder has already engaged more sellers in 2022 than we have in any other […]
May’s Off-Market Sellers
The question everyone is asking is, “Are we heading into a recession?” Sellers are asking the same question and are hesitating to come to market. This isn’t just a feeling. Compared to 2021, Calder’s conversion rate on valuation presentations/pitches has dropped. While our number of new clients is up vs. 2021 during the same period, we have had to grind a lot harder. So how should buyers and sellers be thinking about the market right now? Take a gander at Calder’s M&A market prediction. With many sellers reluctant to list their business at the present moment, we are having even more success with our buy-side outreach. We set a new record in May by generating 57 new off-market sellers, which led to 42 conversations and 10 LOIs issued! Our buy-side team can help buyers circumvent many of these challenges and get them connected with sellers who do not want to go through a limited auction process. Contact us and we can discuss how our team can show you the universe of prospects you’re looking for. Select Seller Leads Developed in May Interested in Working With Us? Calder works with clients on a guaranteed basis, so if we don’t deliver our clients […]
April’s Off-Market Sellers
The Fed is hiking interest rates, inflation is eating away at debt capital investments, and stock markets are down (the S&P is off to its worst start since 1939 – down 13.3% YTD). Where should investors be looking to deploy capital? According to the 2022 Private Capital Markets Report (published last week), 30% of respondents answered “Direct [Business Ownership] Investments” when asked what are the assets with the best risk/return trade-off currently. Calder is seeing that buyer sentiment prove to be true as the interest and competition in our listed opportunities remains sky-high. Our buy-side team can help buyers circumvent many of these challenges and get them connected with sellers who do not want to go through a limited auction process. Take a look at the “Select Seller Leads” below, these are all companies we sourced in April that are engaged in one-on-one conversations with a Calder buyer! Contact us and we can discuss how our team can show you the universe of prospects you’re looking for. Select Seller Leads Developed in April Interested in Working With Us? Calder works with clients on a guaranteed basis, so if we don’t deliver our clients don’t pay. Check out some of our current clients here. Alternatively, […]
March’s Off-Market Sellers
In which direction is the lower middle market moving in 2022? In the midst of inflation, war, rate hikes, burnout, and labor shortage, the consensus at Calder is that sellers appear somewhat reluctant to come to market. Amid the uncertainty, many are skeptical of engaging an M&A firm to run a private auction process. Calder’s sell-side team has felt this sentiment. The sell-side tracks prospects closely and despite record Q1 valuation engagements, Calder is experiencing a lower than historical client conversion rate so far in 2022. Our buy-side team has found that these reluctant sellers are very receptive to targeted outreach, especially when we paint our client as the ideal buyer and show that we understand the emotions of selling. As an example, a recent buy-side closing (announcement coming soon!) occurred with an owner that had been talking to our sell-side for almost a year. The owner had worked very hard to scale the business and was starting to feel burned out. This seller was reluctant to go through an intense sell-side process, even if it may have yielded numerous potential buyers and potentially a higher price. When we launched our buy-side mandate to our network, this owner responded to […]
January’s Off-Market Sellers
We hope that January was a fruitful start to the year for you! Last month, our buy-side team generated 44 proprietary leads, resulting in 30 conference calls and site visits and 5 IOIs/LOIs submitted. It was a good start to 2022 and we’re looking to build on our momentum. How do we do this? It’s 90% elbow grease combined with 10% data science. We combine a personal touch, marketing automation, and data analytics to hone best practices with the tedious work that no one wants to do – lots of research, telephone calls, and email outreach. A question our team gets asked regularly is, “is it a good time to buy?” While there is always uncertainty about the economy, inflation, interest rates, politics, etc., it is almost always the right time for a buyer that has a solid strategy and sticks to it. Our team has found that in most cases it’s the approach rather than the attempt to time the market that leads to a successful acquisition. Don’t sit on the sidelines waiting for it to be the “right time.” That time may never come. Are you curious to see how many potential sellers match your criteria? Let us […]