Archives

Location: Kansas City, MO

Industry: Floor Cleaning Equipment, Supplies and Services

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Business Owner

The Buyer: John & Kara Ryel

The Seller: Bill’s Floor Machine Service has been selling new and used floor cleaning machines, cleaning supplies and equipment services to the Kansas City area for over 30 years.

The Close: David and Marsha Phillips needed assistance selling their company to David’s daughter and son-in-law, Kara and John Ryel, who had been working in the business for over 5 years. As with most family transitions, the younger generation did not have the cash resources to purchase the business in a conventional structure. The Ryels were about to partner with an investor in a transaction where they would retain 50% of the equity and the investor would get the other 50%. Seeing this, the family’s financial advisor introduced the family to DVS in the hopes of preserving more equity for the buyers. DVS assisted the family in locating a bank that would finance the transaction without requiring investor capital, and worked diligently with all sides (including the bank) to structure and efficiently close the deal to everyone’s benefit. Despite major changes in tax code and bank requirements during the course of the deal, DVS successfully completed this generational business transfer with minimal financial adjustments for either buyer or seller. The Ryels retained 100% of the business equity, resulting in significant financial benefit and operational simplicity going forward.

Location: Kansas City, MO

Industry: Construction- Land Clearing

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Company

The Buyer: Haakon Capital is a private equity group located in the Kansas City metro area. The fund invested in multiple industries.

The Seller: CS Carey performs large scale operations of land clearing and grinding, tree debris removal, right of way and utility line clearing, and sales of wholesale mulch.

The Close: The founder of CS Carey had grown the business into a highly integrated company but wished to restructure and refinance his company with the objective of limiting personal exposure and allowing him to focus on operations. DVS helped the seller recognize his personal preference of working with a newly established family fund over other traditional players in the private equity marketplace. DVS closed the transaction with great client satisfaction.

Location: Kansas City, Missouri

Industry: Information Services-Pharmaceutical Industry

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Business Owner

The Buyer: PRO PHARMA GROUP is a consulting firm that specializes in Pharmacy Benefits and Organizational Strategy for Health Care Systems.

The Seller: Advanced Response Management (ARM) (www.askarm.com) provides Medical Information, Adverse Event, Product Complaint and related services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry. The mission of ARM is to advance the concept of medical knowledge exchange by pioneering innovative tools and solutions.

The Close: ARM was a niche business with two founders that felt that they had grown their business beyond their comfort level. The founders wished to stay on for the long term but desired a sale in order to secure their retirement. DVS worked with the sellers for three years to time the sale perfectly and to help them identify the partner best suited to their needs. DVS presented the sellers with multiple buyers and assisted them in choosing the partner that offered them the most ideal timeline, purchase price, deal structure and capital gains solution. DVS also assisted the buyer in securing the financing for the transaction.

Location: St. Petersburg, FL

Industry: Wholesale Distributor- Janitorial and Maintenance Products

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Business Owner

The Buyer: Mr. Stephen Collins was eager to relocate to Florida from the Northeast. After a successful corporate career including international assignments in the healthcare industry, he wanted to fulfill his dream of business ownership.

The Seller: Coast Brothers, Inc. was a family owned business and a leading wholesale distributor providing over 1000 items for the hospitality, janitorial, healthcare, paper, industrial cleaning, sanitation and maintenance, systems and services. Coast Brothers is a master distributor for a number of well-known manufacturers, and ships throughout the US and the Caribbean.

The Close: The business owners needed a quick and confidential transaction in order to dissolve a family partnership. To ensure agreement from all of the equity holders a premium price was required. DVS found the buyer, negotiated a transaction that structured the necessary purchase premium in a manageable format to be agreeable to all parties in addition to sourcing and securing financing. DVS also assisted the buyer in retaining additional advisory support when his network did not produce qualified legal counsel.

Location: Leawood, Kansas

Industry: Financial Services- Tax Planning

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Business

The Buyer: Mr. David Dickens is a senior executive with more than 25 years of experience in the banking and financial services industries.

The Seller: JC Grason is an independent income tax and financial services firm, specifically devoted to working with retirees and those planning for their retirement. Their services include retirement planning, tax planning and estate planning.

The Close: JC Grason approached the DVS Group with the desire to sell their corporate office in Leawood, Kansas. Prior to taking the business to market, DVS identified Mr. Dickens through their proprietary internal database of passive business buyers. Mr. Dickens’ extensive financial services background made him the perfect candidate to purchase the business. The transaction closed quickly, quietly and with a positive go-forward relationship.

Location: Kansas City, MO

Industry: Pharmaceutical-Contract Research and Manufacturing

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Business Owner

The Buyer: A private investment group led by Mr. Brent Taylor acquired controlling interest in Acceleration, LLC.

The Seller: Founded in 2003, Acceleration Laboratory Services, is a FDA inspected contract drug development organization serving clients of all sizes in the pharmaceutical, animal health, other life sciences and food/beverage industries. In 2008, Acceleration was ranked number one on Ingram’s Corporate Report 100, which identifies the fastest growing companies in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

The Close: Acceleration had multiple owners all desiring a sale. However, each owner had different needs and objectives. DVS presented their clients with three potential buyers- a Strategic buyer from the same industry, a high net worth Individual buyer and a Private Equity Trust. DVS led the Sellers through the process of deciding which would be the best single Buyer to help the three of them reach their objectives and completed the transaction with a sale to the Private Equity Family Trust.

Location: Overland Park, Kansas

Industry: Aviation Service-Instrumentation Installation and Maintenance

DVS Role: Sell-Side Advisory to Business Owner

The Buyer: Vaisala is a global leader in environmental and industrial management headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. Vaisala’s corporate strategy included a plan to grow as a service provider. The acquisition of ASMI strengthened Vaisala’s position as a maintenance provider in the US airport weather market, complemented its current contracts and added expertise in the maintenance of additional instruments commonly used at airports.

The Seller: Aviation Systems Maintenance, Inc. (ASMI) is an Overland Park, KS based aviation service company with more than twenty-five years of experience in the installation and maintenance of ground-based weather reporting systems and navigational aids.

The Close: The DVS Group was engaged to assist this family-owned company in an Exit Planning capacity. Concerns of the tightly regulated industry and a limited buyer pool narrowed their choices to include only highly sophisticated corporate buyers. DVS created a competitive sale environment by approaching multiple parties. The potential buyers included a strategic buyer with a defensive incentive to purchase the business. The sellers obtained a premium price and deal structure for their business and the transaction closed within forty-five days.