Opportunity Zones and Opportunity Funds

Opportunity Zones and Opportunity Funds

January 31, 2019

Thanks to Robert Drumm for writing this article for us. Robert is an attorney and entrepreneur with 16 years experience in special-purpose real estate finance and development, business transactions, workouts, and day-to-day business operations. He returned to full-time legal and consulting practice after successfully rejuvenating a specialty packaging business serving the craft beverage industry.

Starting in the 1920s, “1031 Exchanges” give real estate investors a way to recycle and preserve capital by deferring tax on gains from the sale of one property by promptly reinvesting it in another. Unfortunately, investors in operating companies have not had a similar vehicle to forestall the tax man. Read more

What is “Closing”? A Dealmaking Timeline from Two Weeks Out to Signing on the Dotted Line

September 18, 2018

If you’re selling your business and the deal’s “Close” is just two weeks away, you’ve gotten through the bulk of it.

But, there are still two weeks left of the dealmaking process and you’re not sure what “closing the deal” actually means. Keep reading to get some practical guidance for items not necessarily addressed in the legal documents, such as “Where should I be, physically, on the day of closing?” Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Due Diligence - the process of discernment in private business dealmaking

The Ultimate Guide to Due Diligence

November 15, 2017

Due diligence is a term most of us have heard somewhere at some point. But what does it actually mean and how does it play out in specific contexts? At The DVS Group due diligence is an essential part of our dealmaking.

Read more

The Ultimate Guide to Business Valuation

November 7, 2017

Valuation is calculated. Price is negotiated.

 

That’s one of the most important things to remember about the process of business valuation.

Business valuation is a topic that goes deep and wide. There are a lot of questions and a lot to learn.

We did the digging for you and created the second in our series of “Ultimate Guides”.
(The first in the series: The Ultimate Guide to EBITDA)

After engaging with the information below, we hope you come out on the other side with a good understanding of why valuation is calculated and price is negotiated.

Let’s go!

Read more

The Ultimate Guide to EBITDA

October 31, 2017

We talk about EBITDA often in our office. The financial measure is important when valuing a business. Business owners, buyers of businesses and even financial advisors can be at a loss for what EBITDA truly means because it is mainly used in the sale of a business- an event they’ll likely experience once.

There is a heap of questions out there regarding EBITDA. And there is an equal amount of answers. We weeded through the resources out there and found the best answers to your EBITDA questions.

Read more

Three Things You Need to Know About Seller Financing

October 17, 2017
A business is for sale. Buyer and seller meet. It’s a match made in heaven. They’re ready to get a deal done. How is the buyer going to find the millions of dollars required to buy the business? Likely partially from you, the seller.

Read more

How to Start Strong in Your Business Exit Process

How to Start Strong in Your Business Exit Process

October 4, 2017

Honesty.

Selling your business requires honesty.

You must be prepared to answer the questions that buyers have in an honest, almost clinical way.

Starting strong in your business exit process involves being honest about your motivation, your numbers, your employees, your customers and your competitors.

It’s a bit like going to the doctor to get your moles checked – annoying, frustrating, a bit anxiety inducing but you come out on the other side aware of what needs to be removed and what looks a little funky but is actually just fine.
Read more

5 Mistakes People Make When Valuing a Business

5 Mistakes People Make When Valuing a Business

September 20, 2017

As merger & acquisition professionals, we know that much of our job is education. The work we do day-in and day-out is a little bit complicated, a little bit obscure, and a whole lot different than a business owner’s day-in and day-out work. We value and enjoy our role as educators but sometimes we get frustrated when our clients get tunnel vision and choose to focus on any problem but the one that matters. We find ourselves having the wrong conversation over and over.

Read more

70-90% of Strategic Acquisitions Fail - Here's How Corporate Buyers Kill Deals

70-90% of Strategic Acquisitions Fail – Here’s How Corporate Buyers Kill Deals

September 6, 2017

Strategic acquisitions have a historical failure rate of 70-90%. That’s a pretty dismal stat.

So, what are you doing wrong? And, more importantly, how do you properly lead your team in an acquisition process when the cards are stacked against you?

Below are five of the most common mistakes we see corporate buyers make when going through the acquisition process. These mistakes can be costly – especially, if the deal dies after you chased it for months. We’ve included reminders of basic, yet vitally important, acquisition principles that will allow you to steer clear of failure and action items to help your team gain momentum in the right direction.

Read more