Episode 14 — Buy-Side: “The Opposite”

For nine years, Patrick has asked Paul about buy-side M&A in order to grow his Texas-based pest control firm. While Patrick knows that Paul’s true love is sell-side advisory, he also knows that Paul used to work for one of the largest buyout shops in the world and has advised publicly-traded companies on setting up their M&A departments and buy-side M&A processes – such as valuation modeling and negotiation strategy. But Patrick is extremely persistent…

Patrick: Paul, what about buy-

Paul: No

Patrick: What’s up Paul? I was looking at this potential acquisition..

Paul: Why do I even answer your calls?

Patrick: Hey, when should we think about buying...

Paul: {Click}

Patrick: Paul? Paul? Are you there?

The good news is, our listeners have sent in a ton of buy-side questions that Paul can no longer avoid. So under the guise of listener-submitted questions, Patrick slid in some of his own questions, finally to be answered. 

Listeners asked about: how acquisitions turn out years later, how a privately-held pest control company can access the corporate bond market, but most importantly, listeners wanted to know how they can create value by doing small acquisitions themselves, which is the core of the discussion today.

A perfect combination of simplicity, bottom-feeding, timing and relationship-building may get you in the door, but how do you get a good entry price? After recording, Patrick realized that this is only the tip of the iceberg on the buy-side of M&A in the pest control industry.

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Seinfeld references: 1