MBA Finance is a consulting firm that supports entrepreneurs in financial services with mergers and acquisitions. On behalf of the owner of an administrative office, Pim Peeters supervised the sale of this business. He posted the sales profile on Brookz, which was viewed 305 times and generated 10 responses. Barely two months later, the deal was ratified with the buyer at the notary.
What does the sold business do?
Pim Peeters: "The business is an administration office in the field of administration, tax return practice and tax and entrepreneurial advice for small SMEs and self-employed people, mainly in the Eindhoven region. This administration office achieves an annual turnover of approximately 115,000 euros.'
Why did the owner want to sell a business?
The owner had not yet reached retirement age, but wanted to get rid of all the obligations and deadlines that an administrative office entails. Thereupon he decided to sell his business, but still wanted to be employed under the new owner.'
What kind of activities did you do for this entrepreneur?
'I sold his other business, a financial consulting firm, for this entrepreneur in the past. So he came back to me asking if I could assist him in selling his accounting firm. Since a short-term sale was preferred, we quickly went through a number of steps to make the business as sale-ready as possible. The main question with administrative offices is what exactly is in the portfolio in terms of customers and the repetitive nature of the revenue.'
What is your experience with posting a sales profile on Brookz yourself?
"I am very positive about posting a sales profile on Brookz. It's fairly easy for an adviser because a teaser based on the information memorandum is created anyway. On the day of publication, your inbox floods with responses from interested advisers and entrepreneurs. New responses continue to trickle in over the following days. The speed and efficiency is therefore very high.'
What is your experience with the number and quality of responses?
'In total, I received 10 responses to this sales profile. Of those, half were just curious and trying to get information. As an acquisition consultant, you know that's part of the deal. The other half are serious parties and that group is ultimately what it's all about. I always say: one response is enough to close a deal.'
Who is the final buyer and does it come from outside your network?
'The buyer is a fellow administration office located about ten kilometers away. The owners didn't know each other. That is not strange, when you consider that there are more than sixty administration offices in the Eindhoven area alone. You never know for sure, but without the sales profile on Brookz, these two parties might not have come across each other at that time. These two organizations were a good fit in terms of culture and customer friendliness, making it easy for the selling entrepreneur to continue working under the new owner as well.
