Renan is the epitome of the American dream. He is an army veteran who got his MBA and is now pursuing a rollup strategy in commercial restoration. Renan heard about us through a webinar we conducted, and he originally contacted us in pursuit of a laundromat. That is not the sort of business that gets many people excited, but boring businesses can be great acquisitions. This one was not to be though. We went through the whole deal process, including SBA underwriting. Everything was agreed to, but ultimately the landlord did not agree to assign the lease and the deal collapsed.

It was a painful outcome, but one softened by our policy of rolling broken deal fees into subsequent transactions. For Renan, this meant that his legal fees in pursuing his original transaction weren’t wasted. The failed laundromat acquisition also proved a blessing in disguise for Renan as he found his first restoration business acquisition very soon thereafter. That transaction had a unique deal structure, the sort of deal structure that most people can only dream of as a buyer, but Renan has the background and personality to make it happen.

The target company was a commercial restoration business.  The owners were pursuing several other very successful ventures and were looking to find the right person to pass the business off to.  They loved Renan’s story and believed in his vision.  They were willing to accept 100% seller financing, a true unicorn (you can listen to Renan’s episode of the Acquiring Minds podcast for more about the story). After the acquisition, Renan found many other restoration companies with founders that were also looking for exits and those transactions are now unfolding.

Renan initially envisioned a private equity style fund structure for his rollup strategy. We used our attorney network to find Renan specialist investment fund counsel to assist with his PPM and related fund documentation as well as ongoing fund management. But as new funding partners entered the picture, it became apparent that the fund structure he’d originally envisioned was not the best way to achieve his goals. We advised Renan about potential alternatives and helped him reconfigure his business into a more suitable holding company structure. Providing this sort of multi-faceted advice, helping to achieve business objectives using the legal tools at our disposal, is something in which we take great pride.

When given the opportunity to reflect on his experience working with us so far, Renan said: