Quality Supply

The Challenge

The company long-known as Quality Supply located in Western Montana was owned by a husband-and-wife team. Together with a very capable management team, it had enjoyed a long and enviable history. As a four-location provider of all things farm & ranch, the company employed over 150 employees and enjoyed strong geographic coverage of western Montana where it had successfully controlled a formidable market share. The owners were nearing retirement age and were beginning to explore exit strategies with long-time advisors; their corporate CPA firm and law firm. Preliminary discussions had been about the typical topics of possible buyers and possible valuation ranges. However little was understood about how to commence with “the process” of actually accomplishing their objective to sell. Their law firm recommended that they meet with AdvantEdge Advisors and consider engaging them to join the team.

The AdvantEdge Solution

AdvantEdge was engaged soon thereafter and immediately began their in-depth analysis of the company. That culminated in the firm belief that there would be a strong market with multiple buyer candidates for the company; and that the timing was ideal. Therefore an aggressive strategy to maximize value was recommended. The company was first impeccably prepared for market and then immediately “went to market” under a structured 180 day process sometimes referred to as a “soft auction.” This process quickly gained interest from several buyer pools including strategic buyers, private equity including a very respected group that already owned a platform company in the industry in Texas, family offices, an employee group, and high-net-worth private buyers.

The Result

Ultimately, that structured process yielded multiple competing buyers (key to maximizing value), with the ultimate one being a strategic buyer that entered into the process last. That buyer quickly showed to be the most motivated buyer by offering both the best price and the best terms. The owners worked through a relatively short transition of just a few months and were able to retire; riding the wave of a transaction that without question maximized value. As they put it: “We felt very comfortable having AdvantEdge Advisors representing us… your approach to marketing … and negotiating for the best price possible was solid and we feel certain that your help allowed us to realize approximately 30% more… (read full testimonial HERE). In short they retired happily . They also slept well at night because having watched the entire professionally-managed process unfold had made them very confident that they had achieved the best outcome possible!