Due Diligence: Quality Inspection for Business Sales
When you buy a home, you get a home inspection. When you buy a car, you take it to the mechanic. Before shipping a board or assembly, it goes through several levels of inspection. Buying a business is like a one-time AOI test for a complex, multi-million-dollar assembly. However, there is no time for rework;... Read More →
Acquiring a Distressed Company
Everyone loves a bargain. Are you looking to acquire a beat-up Pinto with four bald tires and 300,000 miles, a gently used Malibu that was recently tuned up and washed, or a brand-new Tesla? Just like buying an old car or a fixer-upper house, you can get a great deal, or sometimes you get what... Read More →
20 EMS Deals in the Past 12 Months
Does it seem like there have been a lot of EMS deals in North American in the past 12 months (June 2019 to May 2020)? From our count, there have been at least 21 deals in the general EMS space (PCB assembly, EMS, etc.) in North America during this time. There have also been five... Read More →
Pivot Like MJ
Most successful businesses have pivoted at least 4–5 times during their history. Even the largest companies—such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google—need to keep changing and innovating, or they will drop off. As a smaller, nimbler business, it should be easier to pivot, but it takes guts, drive, and hard work. The COVID-19 pandemic has... Read More →
An M&A Perspective on the Current Market
Barry Matties and Nolan Johnson spoke to Tom Kastner about what he sees from an M&A perspective in company leadership resistance to change, as well as the current state of the M&A market and how it’s been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak. Nolan Johnson: Tom, why is change so hard for some people? In your role,... Read More →
Stress Testing Deals
Most M&A transactions fall apart several times before closing, even during normal times. When a major crisis occurs—whether internal or external—a deal can truly be stress tested. We hope everyone is healthy during the current COVID-19 outbreak. During this time of lockdowns, almost all deals have at least “caught a cold.” Even if the deal... Read More →
What Is a Quality of Earnings Report?
For the past several years, quality of earnings reports (also called “Q of E” reports), have become more popular in M&A deals. Whether the seller’s financials are audited, reviewed, compiled, in QuickBooks, or on the back of a napkin, a Q of E report helps buyers become more comfortable with the seller’s numbers and identifies... Read More →
199
According to my firm’s database, the number of PCB companies in North America is now down to 199. This is a psychologically significant number for the industry. To clarify how we count companies, we are counting only PCB fabricators (excluding pure importers or assembly shops), and each company counts as one (e.g., TTM counts as... Read More →
Preparing for Life Post-transaction
Congratulations! You have punched out! Now what? Hopefully, you have thought about this subject sometime before the day after closing. Most owners have at least a vague idea of what they want to do, and many have a second life all planned out. Being prepared for life after a transaction is a good idea not... Read More →
Why buy a North American Manufacturer such as a PCB/PCBA Shop?
Last month, the IPC (PCB Industry group) came out with very positive statistics about the North American PCB market, including sales growth, a healthy book-to-bill ratio, and other indicators. Overall, the US economy is strong, and manufacturing has seen a resurgence over the past decade. Still, the overall trend for investors and small company buyers... Read More →