Differentiators​

Experience working on the buyside. On top of spending 3 years on the carrier side, Doug Waddington spent 4 years with NFP in their accounting and M&A groups overseeing the purchase and integration of agencies and 2 years with USI as CFO of their western region. Those skills and experiences are invaluable to a seller during a sale process, in addition to years working on the M&A team with Lincoln Financial Group – one of the largest insurance carriers in the U.S.

We run every process as an auction. Sometimes M&A advisors will show a selling firm to one buyer only. They’ll do so if they feel that buyer is a perfect fit. We feel it best to reach out to 10-15 buyers so we can allow the market to reveal the true value of the firm. The perfect fit buyer might well be the winner, but the pressure of knowing there are other bidders is better for the seller.

Often the highest bid is not the best offer. We encourage our sellers to determine which offer (not always the highest bid) will be the best fit for them culturally and will give them the resources they need (carrier contracts, cross sell opportunities, administrative resources) to succeed.

What is the upside in the buyer’s equity? The majority of buyers will request that the seller roll 10%-30% of their sale price into the buyer’s stock. Assessing the likelihood of that stock’s success is a key ingredient in the analysis of offers.

We do not charge retainers. Many potential sellers I have encountered through the years want to ‘dip their toe in the pool’ rather than ‘diving right into the deep end’ when it comes to exploring a sale. We only get paid if and when we find a successful outcome for an agency owner.

Lean and mean. We are a boutique firm. Other M&A advisors pass that work off to a team of junior analysts to perform. Or, they have a “sales guy” in charge of your relationship who has no clue about the mechanics of your firm’s operations or how an earnout works. We feel it far better to be small, allowing each member of the team to have an intimate knowledge of you, your goals with a transaction, your financials, and your operational structure.

No pressure. A complaint I have heard many times through the years is that other M&A advisors want you to “hurry up and sign” – be it an initial engagement letter with the advisor or an LOI with a buyer. Calling you twice a day until you sign. Larger M&A advisors with a large staff have a payroll to make every other week – deal fees pay those bills. As a boutique, we are under no pressure to “make our numbers” and generate a certain amount of deal flow. This allows us to work at your pace and make the best decision. Aside from deciding to start your own agency, this is the biggest business decision an entrepreneur will ever make.

White glove service. Our aim is to close a deal every two months or about six per year. We want each deal to have our full attention giving you the white glove service you deserve for such an important process. Each member of the team is available to you seven days a week.