Company
Autobody News
Industry
Main Street, Content
TYpe
Buy-Side, Searcher
At A Glance
Nathan and Paul did a lot of soul-searching to focus on their strengths and found a great business that would benefit from those strengths. We then acted as a buffer between them and the seller to keep discussions smooth, overcome many deal obstacles, and eventually help them achieve a successful outcome.
The Full Story
We met Nathan and Paul in September 2022. At the time, they were in the early stages of negotiating an offer on a business. We met with them, discussed different ways they could structure their offer, and told them to come back to us once they’d agreed on some of the headline terms with the seller so that we could step in and create a detailed LOI that would get them to closing. They were unable to come to an agreement on that business, so we encouraged them to continue their search and told them that we’d be ready when they found their next target.
In April 2023, we received an email from them that they’d submitted an IOI on another business and were ready to work with us if the seller agreed to their high-level terms. This time gap is normal for self-funded searchers, and we stay in touch regularly and offer resources when we can to help in what we know can be a long and arduous journey. This time, Nathan and Paul had found the perfect acquisition target for them. Both had extensive experience in various aspects of the media business from their work in the music industry. Nathan and Paul found Autobody News, a legacy media business serving the auto repair shop industry. It is the sort of searcher-business match that we always encourage. We always encourage people to search for a business that can benefit from their skills and background, and this was exactly that sort of acquisition.
After a few more days, they confirmed that the outline of an agreement was in place and we jumped in to draft and negotiate the formal LOI. This is the point at which we prefer to become involved as a more detailed LOI that addresses all of the major deal points is much more likely to lead to actually closing a winning transaction, our number one goal for our clients. After multiple rounds of back-and-forth with the broker and seller’s counsel, the LOI was signed, and diligence commenced.
After the LOI was signed, we waited for financial diligence and SBA approval. Once we received confirmation from the lender, we ran full speed ahead in drafting and negotiating the legal documents. There were some contentious discussions between the attorneys and the negotiations were fraught at times, but we kept the acquisition on course.
As Nathan described:
If you want to hear more about their search process and acquisition, Nathan was interviewed on the Acquiring Minds podcast (We wish that he’d name dropped us, but that didn’t happen). This was an example of the right buyers finding the right business, and we really enjoy helping searchers when they find that perfect fit.
