How I Bought Two Traditional Businesses with $4m EBITDA at 24 | Ethan Macdonald Interview

Imagine that for a moment…

You are 24 years old and want to acquire a business…

You pick up the phone and make your first cold call to the founder who owns two companies in the $1-2mm EBITDA range

The founder says, "yes, I would be interested in selling my company," four months later you are the new owner of a small holding company with two traditional businesses (First Fleet Maintenance and Northern Diesel, both located in Northern Alberta, Canada) and a combined EBITDA of $4 million.

This conversation is amazing. Ethan Macdonald from Macdonald Financial has a wild journey.

Show notes:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:43 - Background before these acquisitions

00:06:29 - The moment Ethan decided it was the right time to acquire the company

00:08:35 - Talking to brokers lead to not wanting to use their services

00:11:50 - Deal structure and conversations with the banks

00:19:41 - Very asset heavy businesses

00:23:30 - The whole transaction was financed by the bank

00:32:34 - Unexpected costs in making the deal as he couldn't afford both a lawyer and an accountant

00:34:07 - Post-acquisition

00:38:26 - "I would like to be an operator for the next transaction"

00:41:00 - Growth through M&A versus organic

00:44:02 - Challenges so far after less than half a year of business ownership

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Contact Ethan: ethan at macdonaldfinancial dot net

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.