Farewell | Award Winners | Value Drivers | Guidelines | Fees | Top 10 Ways
December 2016






Free Unlimited First Research Industry Reports

What this means to M&A Source members
  • Get an edge on the competition by quickly gaining the "knowledge advantage"
  • Enhance strategic planning and marketing with industry-specific content
  • Establish credibility on sales calls by articulating and intelligently discussing key business issues
  • Identify what a prospect is not telling you about some risks and opportunities his or her business is facing
  • Develop clients' trust to build long-term relationships
  • Maintain meaningful contact, stay on top of critical trends, and identify cross-sell opportunities
  • Now covering over 1,000 industries, the reports are updated quarterly - exportable into customizable formats
To access First Research please follow the steps below:
  1. Go to www.masource.org/discounts where you can enter your M&A Source member login credentials.
  2. After this, you will be on the benefits page and should select Click here to access First Research.
  3. If you have not accessed First Research before you will need to enter your email address and complete the registration page.  Once everything is complete you will be able to simply login with your email address in the future.
  4. Each time you access First Research you will need to follow the steps listed above.
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye
Joe Lindsey, M&AMI, CM&AP, CBI
Chairman: The M&A Source Board of Directors

As the two-year term of my chairmanship comes to a close, here is one more article that was inspired, in part, by a song.  More about that later.  
It has been a tremendous honor to serve as the M&A Source's chief cook and bottle washer during 2015 & 2016 and to follow in the rather large footsteps of the past Chairs who occupied that role before me.  I've been very fortunate in that I was able to establish meaningful relationships with many of our association's past, present and future leaders. Each one of them, in their own way, generously provided words of wisdom and a sense of camaraderie that I will always cherish.
2016 Darrell Fouts Award Winner: Gary Papay

For those of you who don't know, Darrell Fouts was instrumental in the formation of The M&A  Source and served as our first Chairman  in 1992. 

In honor of the contributions he made to the M&A Source, an award was created in Darrell's name by 2001 Chairman Robert (Bob) Gurrola. Those who are considered for this award have displayed visionary leadership or exceptional contributions resulting in a distinct benefit to the M&A Source members, as well as uplifting and expanding the vision of the M&A Source and/or the mergers and acquisition profession.

2016 M&A Source Award Winners

During the awards luncheon at the M&A Source 2016 Fall Conference and Dealmakers Expo November 14-17, 2016 in Tempe, Arizona, members were recognized for service "above and beyond" on behalf of M&A Source.  We are grateful to these individuals for their contributions during the past year which make the M&A Source the organization it is today.
Top 10 Strategic Value Drivers
Amy Cole, M&A Advisor, MBA, CBB

CUSTOMER DIVERSITY - If too much of your current business is concentrated in too few customers, this is perceived as a negative in the acquisition market. The concern is that if the owner exits and the major customers leave, the business could be negatively impacted. On the plus side, if none of your customers accounts for more than 5% of total sales, that is viewed as positive. If you find yourself with a customer concentration issue and are planning an exit, start focusing on a program to diversify. A quick fix would be to make an acquisition of a competitor with customer diversity, integrate them and then take your company to market. 

Kevin Dempsey, CBI, CMEA
Founder and President of Silicon Valley Financial Partners, Inc.

When you are preparing your company for sale, there may be some issues that could hamper or prevent the legal sale of your company. This may require an M&A Attorney to mitigate or eliminate those issues prior to marketing your company.
 
However, we don't usually recommend engaging an M&A attorney until we have negotiated a non-binding Letter of Intent that includes all the terms of the deal. This strategy will save costly legal fees you might spend for a deal that may never happen.

A Summary of M&A Fees for Sell-Side Transactions
John Carvalho, Contributing Writer
Article reprinted courtesy of Divestopedia

Takeaway:  An overview of M&A fees for sell-side transactions.
Investment banks   offer expertise and know-how that can add significant value to any transaction, but complicated fee structures can be daunting and confusing in picking an investment banker.  

Top 10 Ways an M&A Transaction Can Go Wrong
Gary Miller
Managing Director of the SDR Consulting Division

Many business owners are jumping on the bandwagon to sell their companies, trying to take advantage of the current hot market and frothy multiples being paid by buyers. With the impending Baby Boomer tsunami, more businesses are and will be for sale over the next few years than at any other point in history. This trend creates a competitive environment among sellers and leads buyers to look more closely at the quality and price value relationship of any potential acquisition.
The Bridge Wants You

The Bridge is always looking for helpful and educational articles in the areas of:
  1. Business Valuation
  2. The Process of Selling Businesses
  3. Preparing Businesses for Sale
  4. Marketing Your M&A Practice to Business Owners (we are especially interested in more of these!).
No need to be a professional writer. We can help edit the article so don't worry about getting it perfect.
 
Anyone who submits an article for publication will have their photo, short bio, company logo and link to their website included with the article when published.
 
This is an excellent opportunity to share your knowledge and make new connections. If you have an idea for an article, or an article ready to publish, please submit it for consideration to admin@masource.org. 

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