Keep Your Saw Sharp
My hobby is prairie restoration, which means that most weekends you will find me in the Cook County Forest Preserves near Chicago with a chainsaw or some other power tool. My favorite activity is to cut non-native invasive trees to make room for native plants and other ecological activities. Lately, we took on a project... Read More →
How to Stand Out Among Other Sellers
It is a very busy time in the M&A world. Many owners in the electronics industry, especially in the PCB and EMS sectors, are of retirement age. Meanwhile, there is a lot of interest from both competitors and private equity firms in making acquisitions in the space. Because there are a lot of deals happening,... Read More →
2021 COVID and Post-COVID M&A Outlook
The first quarter of 2021 was the busiest opening quarter ever for global M&A (since records started being kept in 1980), according to financial data company Refinitiv. The total global deal value was $1.3 trillion, a 94% increase over the same quarter in 2020, and which was feeling the effects of the pandemic. Q1 2021... Read More →
If I Were 20 Years Younger
We hear a lot of owners say, “If I were 20 years younger, I would…,” meaning they would make major investments or strategic changes if they had the time to realize the return on investment. Other reasons for not making investments are the lack of funds, lack of energy, etc. However, we feel that the... Read More →
The ROI of M&A
The common stigma surrounding M&A is that 80% of deals do not reach expectations. Still, deals grab headlines, and many companies use M&A as their primary growth strategy. Is there a disconnect between reality and the headlines, or is the stigma of M&A failure not really true? For sellers, the return on investment (ROI) on... Read More →
The ‘Dream’ Business Exit
Almost all business owners have a “dream exit”: a well-financed buyer flies in, offers up a suitcase full of cash with no strings over a steak and lobster dinner, and the next day the owner is sitting on a beach with a Mai Tai. These kinds of dream exits do occur, but they are extremely... Read More →
2020 M&A Wrap Up
2020 turned out to be a strong year for M&A in the PCB and EMS/PCB Assembly markets. That is surprising considering the pandemic, US election uncertainty, and restrictions on travel. Although many people were traveling within the US, at least until the current surge in COVID-19 cases, international and domestic business travel has been greatly... Read More →
Dealing With Burnout
The year 2020 has certainly been interesting. Owners of companies in the PCB and PCBA industries are used to ups and downs, but yeesh, 2020 has been tough. The good news is most owners have survived all kinds of stressful situations in the past, and hopefully, better days are ahead. Meanwhile, when an owner is... Read More →
Bringing PCB and PCBA Industries Back to the U.S.
Although U.S. PCB companies have been waving the flag for years, the COVID-19 crisis has shined a spotlight on the U.S. dependency on overseas suppliers for many electronics products. It was kind of a “Sputnik moment” for the U.S. that spurred many calls to beef up support for the electronics industry. We should continue that... Read More →
Are We Selling a Business or Watching ‘Die Hard’?
There is a lot of drama involved in selling a business. According to Wikipedia, the movie series “Die Hard” is about “a police detective who continually finds himself in the middle of violent crises and intrigues where he is the only hope against disaster.” If you use the “strong or powerful” definition of “violent,” that... Read More →