This week, we speak with Sara Yates, CFA. Sara is an experienced economist (Ex JPMorgan, Barclays, UBS), property entrepreneur, and ambassador for the Novastone Capital Advisors Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program. In this timely episode, Sara shares her thoughts on the current macro environment. We cover inflation, interest rates, supply constraints, and Brexit; and the impact it may have on small businesses and the economy in general. We also discuss the NCA ETA offering and opportuni...
Jul 18, 2022•37 min•Ep. 44
This week, we speak with Paul Leitao, Founder of Mercurio Capital - a corporate finance company that arranges financing for small and medium-sized businesses. In this episode, Paul discusses the alternatives to cash flow loans for acquisition financing, the best types of physical assets to leverage against [and the worst], the intricacies of leveraging the debtor book, and much more. Enjoy the episode!
Jul 11, 2022•56 min•Ep. 43
This week, we speak with Brad Nathan, President at Lynx Equity - a private equity firm that specializes in buying companies in stable, "old world" industries. Lynx Equity has built a diversified portfolio of small business with revenue over $600m and EBITDA over £50m across ±53 holdings. In this episode, Brad explains how he built a portfolio of 53 companies, why he only acquires 100% of any acquisition, how they structure their deals to mitigate risk, and so much more. Enjoy the Episode!...
Jul 04, 2022•27 min•Ep. 42
This week, we speak with Jan Simon, a Managing Partner at Vonzeo Capital Partners - a global institutional investor in search funds that invests in 20+ search funds, and 10 follow-on acquisitions, annually. Jan is also the academic director of the international search fund center at IESE Business School, as well as a lecturer at Berkeley-Haas. Previously, he spent over a decade working for Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon Brothers. In this episode, Jan discusses how he got into the sear...
Jun 20, 2022•52 min•Ep. 41
This week, we speak with James Kaberry, Founder and Chairman of SME Capital, a bespoke SME lender; and Chairman and Co- CEO of Titan Wealth Holdings. James is an entrepreneurs' entrepreneur. After executing a successful buy and build with Pantheon Financial in the early 2000's, James exited just before the financial crisis. James then happened to buy it back a couple years later, but after struggling to find suitable lending options, James decided to set up SME Capital. We get into the challenge...
Jun 13, 2022•49 min•Ep. 40
This week, we speak with Gerald Ratner, former Chairman and CEO of Ratners Jewellers. In this episode, we discuss Gerald's journey from starting in the family business as a high school dropout to eventually taking over the business and turning it into the world's largest jewellery retailer. At its peak, Ratners owned 6 household brands and had over 2000 stores across the UK and US. His story is an impressive example of how growth via acquisition can accelerate any business. Gerald also explains ...
Jun 06, 2022•1 hr•Ep. 39
This week, we speak with Robert Felters, a partner of Wolfgang Capital, a private investment business investing in UK SMEs. In this episode, Robert discusses the challenges he faced when he first decided to acquire SMEs, his experience buying and running multiple businesses, how to source and structure deals, and the inventive way they incentivise employees by allowing them to share in profits.
May 30, 2022•46 min•Ep. 38
This week, we speak with Taliesen Hollywood, Director at Hahnbeck, an M&A sell-side consultancy that focuses on eCommerce businesses. In this episode, Taliesen shares his insights on the eCommerce M&A space and the rise of FBA aggregators, what makes a good eCommerce acquisition target, and what you can do to position your business for a successful acquisition. Enjoy!
May 23, 2022•44 min•Ep. 37
This week, we speak with Doug Lawson, CEO & Co-Founder of Mark to Market, one of the UK's most comprehensive and easily searchable database of private market intelligence. In this episode, Doug shares why he decided to launch Mark to Market, the insightful data that his team is able to aggregate, predict and present about private companies, and the fantastic options available to acquisition entrepreneurs. Click the link below to signup or book a free demo https://marktomarket.io/buyandbuild/...
May 16, 2022•42 min•Ep. 36
This week, we speak with Trish Higgins, who, along with her husband and brother-in-law, left Wall Street and set up Chenmark Capital in Portland, Maine. Chenmark is focused on the acquisition and long-term ownership of small businesses. In this excellent episode, Trish explains how 3 Wall St. professionals found their way into SMB acquisitions, their current platform companies and portfolio construction, how they utilise free cash flow to fund future acquisitions, and their approach to developin...
May 09, 2022•51 min•Ep. 35
This week Paul addresses some of the common concerns and questions he gets about searching to acquire a small business. Acquisition entrepreneurship is expanding beyond the typical MBA ecosystem but many of the new listeners are not sure where to begin. Hopefully this will help. Be sure to join our mailing list to receive all the resources referenced in this episode. Enjoy! https://buyandbuild.co/
May 02, 2022•25 min•Ep. 34
This week, we speak with Neil Johnson, Founder and CEO of Duke Royalty, a "royalty investment company" that provides a unique financing solution to companies without raising equity or taking on traditional debt. In this episode, Neil dives deep into the mechanics of royalty financing for business acquisitions, how it compares to equity and debt financing, and the typical deals that they look to partner on. Enjoy the Episode!
Apr 25, 2022•39 min•Ep. 33
This week, we speak with Andrew Lynch, Finance Director at EMT Healthcare, a third-generation family-owned business. In this episode, we discuss what it takes to build a robust finance function for your SME, common cash flow problems and how to identify them early, and Andrew's new company offering strategic finance support for SMEs. Enjoy the Episode!
Apr 18, 2022•48 min•Ep. 32
This week, we speak with Sebastien Perroud, Chairman and Group CEO of the IAR group, an international automation and robotics group that was set up to acquire three separate entities in the USA, Portugal, and Switzerland. In this episode, Sebastien shares his acquisition journey, how he discovered NCA- a Swiss ETA incubator, and how he executed 3 simultaneous deals across 3 countries after searching for only 7 months. Enjoy the Episode!
Apr 11, 2022•41 min•Ep. 31
This week, we speak with Rob Goddard, a former sell-side broker turned business buyer in the UK. Rob also helps fellow business owners achieve an attractive exit through private client mentoring. In this episode, Rob shares his insights and secrets of the UK brokerage landscape, how he was able to sell businesses at a significant premium, and his future acquisition goals. Enjoy the episode!
Apr 04, 2022•44 min•Ep. 30
This week, we speak with Cedric Sigoire, the owner of DEMAN Translations group, a full-service translation agency specialising in B2B translations. Cedric acquired DEMAN in 2015 and has since continued to add on acquisitions, as he builds his translation empire. In this episode, we discuss why Cedric decided to pursue acquisition entrepreneurship, what makes the B2B translation industry so compelling, and how he sources and structures his acquisitions. Enjoy the discussion!
Mar 28, 2022•46 min•Ep. 29
This week we speak with Ibrahim Abdel Rahim, Managing Partner of Moonbase Capital. Moonbase Capital invest in SMEs by backing ambitious Search Fund entrepreneurs. Ibrahim has grown up around SMEs, joining his father's business at a young age. He then completed an MBA at INSEAD before joining McKinsey. Ibrahim then re-joined the family business, growing it 10x and partnering with Doehler Group to create the industry leader in tech-based fruit juice concentrates. This is an amazing conversation ch...
Mar 21, 2022•47 min•Ep. 28
This week we speak with Phil Fraser, founder of WhichBingo - UK's largest online Bingo directory. From his kitchen table, Phil grew WhichBingo for 18 years, before selling it in 2018. Phil now advises other companies and founders through The Business Sounding Board. In this episode, we discuss Phil's Business journey- including the risks involved launching a gambling related online business in the early 2000's, how he built his team in the early days, and his advice for bootstrapping growth. We ...
Mar 14, 2022•47 min•Ep. 27
This week we speak with Ayo Disu and Kunle Campbell of Octillion Capital Partners (OCP). OCP is an eCommerce acquisition company that acquires, operates, and builds culture-defining, socially conscious consumer brands. In this episode we discuss the OCP investment strategy, the unique ways that OCP sources deals, financing options available for eCommerce acquisitions, and the goals for OCP going forward. Enjoy!
Mar 07, 2022•41 min•Ep. 26
This week Paul dives deep into the UK small-business M&A ecosystem. The goal of the episode is to give searchers a resource to help them make smart decisions early-on, helping to optimise their business buying journey. Paul walks through valuation multiples, deal sourcing techniques, thoughts on buy-side advisors, and how to raise debt for your acquisition. If there is anything you wish to dive deeper into, please reach out. Enjoy the episodes!
Feb 28, 2022•33 min•Ep. 25
This week we speak with Kison Patel, founder and CEO of M&A Science. Kison has spent ±20 years advising, executing, and optimising M&A transactions. In this episode, we run through the deal lifecycle and discuss best practices and common mistakes. Kison puts out a ton of valuable info around M&A and you can check it out here Follow buy and build here
Feb 21, 2022•42 min•Ep. 24
This week we speak with Dhaval Shah, the proud owner of two UK logistics companies that he acquired within the last year. Dhaval continues to focus on acquiring companies in the logistics sector, from technology, warehousing, distribution to road haulage companies. In this episode we dive into the logistics sector, we talk about why Dhaval decided to pursue the acquisition path, and how Dhaval has sourced and structured his 2 deals. Enjoy the discussion!
Feb 14, 2022•38 min•Ep. 23
This week we speak with Claire Chandler, founder of TalentBoost, a company focused on helping acquisition entrepreneurs validate and integrate the employees of potential acquisition targets. We all know that small businesses are reliant on their people yet we tend to focus on the financial and legal details of any transaction. Hopefully this episode will help bring another perspective to the business buying process. Enjoy!
Feb 07, 2022•49 min•Ep. 22
This week we speak with Sam Turner, founder of Advantos HVAC Group. Sam is an experienced corporate executive who has recently closed his first acquisition and aims to build a group of HVAC companies. In this episode we discuss Sam's acquisition strategy for the group, the creative ways he sourced outside investors and advisors, and his first few weeks post-close. Enjoy!
Jan 24, 2022•34 min•Ep. 20
This week we speak with Carl Lundberg, partner at Gerald Edelman, a top 50 accounting firm with an affinity for assisting entrepreneurial SMEs. Carl's specialism is corporate finance, in particular transaction services including financial due diligence (FDD) and valuations. In this episode we cover the various levels of FDD from light-touch to full blown quality of earnings, valuation, and transaction advisory services. Enjoy!
Jan 17, 2022•39 min•Ep. 19
This week we speak with Dr Gautum Basu, co-founder of True North Search, an ETA accelerator. Gautam has +30 years experience executing M&A transactions and implementing operational improvements for PE portfolio companies, Fortune 500 firms, and SMEs. Gautum has also acquired, and is currently running, a business himself. In this episode, we discuss how True North partners with searchers and Gautum's experience acquiring and running his own business.
Jan 10, 2022•45 min•Ep. 18
This week we speak with Koji Bratcher, a valuation and financial advisory expert. Koji has provided financial modelling and analytics services to hundreds of businesses, ranging from private, early-stage companies to publicly-traded Fortune 500 companies. In this episode we discuss some of the basic concepts that drive valuation, such as: how to understand industry average multiples, why EBITDA is used as a proxy for cash flow, and how to think about working capital. We hope you enjoy this episo...
Jan 03, 2022•51 min•Ep. 17
In this week's episode we discuss updates on Paul and David's search journey. You will hear more about why David decided to leave his job and search full time and we also go through some of the deals we are looking at, proposed deal structures, and opportunities in the pipeline. We hope you enjoy!
Dec 13, 2021•35 min•Ep. 16
This week we speak with Daniel Gilbert, founder and CEO of Brainlabs. Daniel started Brainlabs in his parents attic back in 2012 with a mission of making marketing more scientific. Since then, Brianlabs has grown to 400+ staff across 8 cities around the globe, won numerous awards, and is growing faster then ever with the support of private equity. In this episode we discuss the importance of culture, the benefits of PE backed funding, and Daniels future goals. Enjoy!
Dec 06, 2021•41 min•Ep. 15
After starting as an apprentice in the fire and security industry, Callum went on to launch his own security company. During the episode, we discuss the opportunities and challenges of being a young operator in the industry, the lack of quality talent given no clear path to recruit and train young talent, and other sector nuances that makes this a popular playground for acquisition roll ups. Enjoy!
Nov 29, 2021•48 min•Ep. 14
