Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Q1 2014 M&A Market Update

As we complete the first quarter of 2014, we have seen several trends develop in M&A that are impacting valuations, as well as the number of sale/recapitalization transactions of closely held businesses. In 2013 and Q1 2014, we closed numerous transactions across the state, in varied industry sectors, including an Austin-based client company that was acquired by a public company based in Europe. Our opinion is that the M&A market is extremely favorable to sellers today. This was reinforced by a recent article by Andy Greenberg, CEO of GF Data, who stated:




"The primary drivers of middle-market deal flow - company and industry performance, capital availability, macro-economic conditions, and public equity values - are more favorable to the private business seller than at any time since the mid-2000s, but the volume of change-of-control deal activity is just not on par with these favorable market conditions."


In addition, an article in the New York Times on February 11, 2014, contained the following:




"The market is further constrained by a lack of companies willing to sell, as they wait for the economy to improve further", said Milton J. Marcotte, head of the national transaction advisory services practice at McGladrey, an accounting, tax and consulting firm for private equity. "That intensifies competition among buyers. We've been doing this awhile, and I don't remember a time when it was really quite this competitive," said Mr. Marcotte.


We also know from our industry sources that private equity firms are collectively sitting on about $1 trillion in capital that they must invest. So, with well-capitalized buyers in the market, what is holding back sellers of closely held businesses? We believe that many sellers are skeptical when we discuss what is clearly a "sellers' market". They have heard this before. However, we can verify that multiple offers for good businesses, especially in Central Texas, is the norm rather than the exception.

So, is now the time for business owners to ask themselves if it is a good idea to have a significant amount of their net worth tied up in their privately-held business? We have noticed businesses have recovered from the 2008-2009 recession, and now the business is doing quite well, and thus, the owners ask "why sell now?" Unfortunately, history shows that recessions happen in 7-10 year cycles, and most of us cannot predict the future very well. Selling at the top may have appeal as the smart move. But we know that it is difficult to accurately predict the ideal time. Our message to business owners is don't wait for uncontrollable factors, such as health issues or other personal factors, to force you into an exit strategy. The better course of action is to take control and plan your exit in a way that maximizes value. We believe that the only way to maximize value upon the sale of a privately held business is to run a well-managed process that leads to multiple offers.

So if it's a "sellers' market", what impact is that having on valuations? It varies, of course, by industry and size of company, but some broad parameters do apply. The following appeared in the GF Data article:




"The non-institutionally-owned businesses offering neither above-average financial characteristics nor a management solution post-close that continued the march towards closing in the first months of 2013 traded at an average of 4.4 TTM Adjusted EBITDA."   GF Data, March 2014.


Two salient points in that statement: These businesses were neither above average, nor did they have a strong management team after acquisition, yet were still getting a multiple of 4.4 times TTM Adjusted EBITDA. So if a business has better than average financial performance and a solid management team, it should command an even higher multiple. This is supported by a recent New York Times article, in which David Humphrey, a managing director at Bain Capital, noted:

"Valuations for clean, easily extractable businesses are quite high."

So going forward in 2014, we expect continued high demand for Central Texas businesses with upward pressure on pricing for well-managed, profitable businesses. There were over 150 Private Equity Groups at the recent ACG conference in Houston, intensely focused on finding solid acquisitions of both platform and add-on businesses.

Please do not hesitate to contact us for specific information about market trends.


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