Industry: Local listing syndication
Location: Kansas City, MO
The DVS Group Role: Sell-side representation
The Seller: Data Scribe
Data Scribe has occupied a niche in the national service market for over 40 years. After starting as a data service provider for white pages directories, Data Scribe expanded on its invoice management capabilities to provide back-office solutions to small business owners outside of the white pages context. Services today include bookkeeping, business planning, and invoice management.
Earlier in 2018, Data Scribe made the strategic decision to place 100% of their focus and resources on the small business unit in 2019 and sold the invoice and listing management business unit to DSI Solutions.
Greg Crum, owner of Data Scribe, said, “It became evident that the collective team’s passion and talents would have a greater impact with focus on the SMB business unit. It was imperative to me to identify a buyer that would be able to make our vision for the local search space a reality and continue to deliver exceptional customer service. The DVS Group brought forth a buyer, DSI Solutions, matched with their President, André Nelson, that literally gave me the chills. I am not only confident that they will continue to execute on our vision; I am confident they are more capable than Data Scribe to do so and I couldn’t be more excited to see what they accomplish.”
The Buyer: DSI Solutions
By acquiring the listing management division of Data Scribe, DSI Solutions is better equipped to provide telecommunications invoice management and comprehensive listing management to clients.
DSI Solutions provides end-to-end management of white pages listing data. DSI Solutions acts as the prime listing management provider, not just a listing syndicator.
André Nelson, President of DSI Solutions, said, “Data Scribe has done a remarkable job in improving local search data quality and telecommunications management overall. Taking this effort to the next level is going to be exciting. We have a great team and I am certain that DSI Solutions can continue to build on Data Scribe’s successes and add significant value in the telecommunications management space.” –
The Deal:
Greg Crum, owner of Data Scribe, knew Kevin Lindsey, managing partner of The DVS Group, through mutual friends. Greg knew he had reached an inflection point with Data Scribe where his team was ready to focus on services to small business owners. In order to best understand his options Greg reached out to Kevin about selling the white pages division.
Due to the complexities of selling off a division of a small business with commingled resources and financial reports, DVS knew this would be a very specific kind of buyer. Thanks to our extensive list of buyers and familiarity with SBA lenders who could manage the underwriting of this unique project we were able to find a buyer and close on the transaction in just over 60 days.
Kevin, said, “This is one of those deals where the right people came together at the right time. We were glad to be ale to help a friend and facilitate a unique deal done well.”