John D. Wagner
John Wagner is a managing director at 1st West Mergers and Acquisitions, which offers a specialty practice in the LBM sector. To learn more, contact John at: j.wagner@1stWestMA.com, or visit www.1stwestma.com.
Anatomy of a deal
There can be as many as four deal elements that make up an offer to acquire your company.
Five types of EBITDA
EBITDA is a term with a time-worn, clinical definition. It stands for Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization.
Three types of acquirers
There are three general classes of buyers that might acquire your company: 1) A Strategic Buyer (strategic), 2) a pure Private Equity Group (PEG), 3) a Merchant’s Bank.
The value of a good CPA
Fact is, a good CPA is worth their weight in gold, and well worth the expense to retain one.
Mind the spread between OPEX and EBITDA
A (hypothetical) Mr. Coyle started two identical lumber dealerships years ago in a thriving area of New England. When he retired, he gave one location to one son, named Mark, and one to another son, Chris.
What is a pre-empt?
The longer I am in the M&A business, the more I realize how fragile deals can be, and how easily acquirers can walk away.
Roll-up acquisitions: How they work
The term “roll-up” describes a financial engineering process used by private equity and strategic investors, where multiple smaller companies, typically in the same market sector, are acquired and merged.
How an acquisition’s working capital peg is calculated
As an acquisition closes, the investment banker representing the seller calculates the working capital peg.
Don’t take low acquisition offers personally
A neighborhood friend stormed into my house recently, fuming. He’d just put his house on the market and gotten a bid the very first day.
Creative earnout structures in the lumber and building materials industry
Even with the hot M&A market, where there is enduring support for strong acquisition values, buyers of LBM companies are not exactly splashing cash around like drunken sailors or newly elected presidents.