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The Role of an Independent Sponsor
In this episode, we’re taking a look at a unique independent sponsor’s M&A strategies. My guest Bakari Akil is the founder of Graves Hall Capital, which seeks to buy and run businesses where owners and founders are seeking an exit. Bakari will share his M&A journey and advice for enticing a seller to do business with you. He’ll also cover: Why he believes buying companies is the best wealth building strategy What types of companies he’s looking for The role of reps & warranties insurance And more Mentioned in this episode: http://graveshallcap.com https://linkedin.com/in/bakariakil Transcript Patrick Stroth: Hello there. I’m Patrick Stroth, trusted authority in executive and transactional liability and founder of Rubicon M&A Insurance Services, now a proud member of the Liberty Company Insurance Broker Network. Welcome to M&A Masters, where I speak with the leading experts in mergers and acquisitions, and we’re all about one thing here. That’s a clean exit for owners, founders and their investors. Today I’m joined by Bakari Akil, founder of Graves Hall Capital. Based in New York, Graves Hall seeks to buy and run businesses, where owners and founders are seeking an exit. And we recently had an article from Bloomberg about search funders. There’s been information about other types of buyers such as independent sponsors, so I thought it’d be great and ideal to have Bakari, who is out there in the market right now, come and join us. Bakari, great to have you. Thanks for joining us today. Bakari Akil: Thank you very much, Patrick. Patrick: Now, before we get into Graves Hall, let’s talk about you. What brought you to this point in your career? Bakari: Sure. So I am the founder of Graves Hall Capital. Graves Hall is effectively an independent sponsor. We bought companies, we’ve done a couple of
How to Take Full Advantage of the Surge in Lower Middle Market Deal-Making
Overall, there has been a slowdown in M&A activity in the past couple of years, post-pandemic. After an all-time high of 42,436 transactions in 2021, valued at more than $5.6T… deal-making tumbled to 41,808 transactions valued at $4.5T in 2022. And so far, with Q2 numbers just in, it looks like 2023 is following this “downward” trajectory. This is to be expected as the market “rebalances” after the record-setting deal-making frenzy we had in 2021, which was not sustainable because the result of very special circumstances with the global shutdown in 2020… and the rush to make acquisitions when the
Looking Back to Look Forward at the State of M&A Deal-Making
As summer ends, it’s a good time to take stock and review M&A activity so far in 2023 and what is on the horizon for the rest of the year… and beyond. Some industry reports indicate that due to interest rates and the still-ongoing repercussions from the failure of Silicon Valley Bank there is a lot of uncertainty among deal-makers. As a result, there has been a slowdown. But as Allied Advisers put it in their recent report, Navigating M&A in Uncertain Markets, these conditions have also paved the way for “a rebound in M&A volume and value in the
How AI Will Take Over M&A Due Diligence
AI is on everybody’s mind these days… the topic du jour. You’ve no doubt seen how this technology will revolutionize how people live, work, communicate… Really there is no area where AI will not touch – if it doesn’t already. That extends to the world of M&A, specifically the due diligence process. Basically, the number of M&A transactions is ever-increasing. And with deals getting more and more complex, every step of the way towards getting those deals done is increasing in complexity too. Take deal structures. In the past, a Seller would have an asking price for their company. After
How TLPE Insurance Made the Perfect Conditions for a Stock Sale
When owners want to sell their company there are two ways they can do it: Sell the assets of the company, including the equipment, product inventory, customers, and the like. In this case, the Seller retains the “shell” of the corporation to either shut down or use in another business. Sell the stock of the company. In this case, the Buyer gets everything, and the Seller simply walks away with nothing – but the proceeds of the sale, of course. As with many aspects of M&A deals Buyers and Sellers have opposing ideas about the preferred method of conducting the
Key Person Life Insurance in M&A Transactions
Every team member in a company is important. But some employees are simply essential, especially founders, C-suite executives, anybody with specialized knowledge or experience integral to the smooth running of the company, or someone who brings in a good portion of the revenue. Losing these folks would be hugely damaging to the company in the short-term and could also impact the long-term outlook for the business. And they aren’t easily replaceable. This is especially so with SMEs, lower middle market companies, and startups where things are often held together by the vision of those who started the business and are
The Importance of Excess Disability Insurance in M&A
There is a rule that prevents the U.S. president and vice president from traveling on the same plane together. The idea being that if the president’s plane crashes, the VP is ready to take the oath of office and immediately take the reins of power with minimal disruption. It’s done for the good of the country. It gets me to thinking about the equivalent – at least somewhat – in the corporate world. I’m talking corporate events or retreats… perhaps in a foreign destination. They put all the C-suite people… and other key personnel… on the same plane, in the
Deal Trends in 2023 So Far and the Potential Slow Down
Since the end of the pandemic, many in the deal-making community have been waiting for news of a slowdown in M&A activity. And that time has come, although the news is not dire, for several reasons I’ll go into in just a moment…and the deal-makers I’ve spoken to remain upbeat and positive too. But, in black and white, there has been a slowdown from the end of 2022 into the beginning of 2023. According to the Firmex Deal Flow Bulletin for Q2 2023, the numbers of deals in North America was only 1% lower than Q4 in 2022. And then
The Insurance That Protects Your Business From Cyber Crime
We’ve all been notified by a company we patronize that our personally identifiable information (PII) has been hacked. It can be a real headache for us customers. (PII can include customer names, birth dates, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, credit card numbers, bank information, and more. In the case of healthcare businesses, add medical records to the list.) But when you’re the business that has been hacked, there can also be tremendous impacts. This apparent breach of trust can cause customers to take their business elsewhere, for one, which can affect the bottom-line.But more importantly for the hacked business,