Buy and Build

This week, we speak with Brad Nathan, President at Lynx Equity -  a private equity firm that specializes in buying companies in stable, “old world” industries. Lynx Equity has built a diversified portfolio of small business with revenue over $600m and EBITDA over £50m across ±53 holdings.  In this episode, Brad explains how he built a portfolio of 53 companies, why he only acquires 100% of any acquisition, how they structure their deals to mitigate risk, and so much more. Enjoy the Episode!

This week, we speak with Jan Simon, a Managing Partner at Vonzeo Capital Partners - a global institutional investor in search funds that invests in 20+ search funds, and 10 follow-on acquisitions, annually. Jan is also the academic director of the international search fund center at IESE Business School, as well as a lecturer at Berkeley-Haas. Previously, he spent over a decade working for Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and Salomon Brothers.  In this episode, Jan discusses how he got into the search fund space, where he sees compelling opportunities, how to manage owner transitions, and much more.  Also, don't forget to check out his book  Search Funds & Entrepreneurial Acquisitions: The Roadmap for Buying a Business and Leading it to the Next Level

This week, we speak with James Kaberry, Founder and Chairman of SME Capital, a bespoke SME lender; and Chairman and Co- CEO of Titan Wealth Holdings. James is an entrepreneurs’ entrepreneur. After executing a successful buy and build with Pantheon Financial in the early 2000’s, James exited just before the financial crisis. James then happened to buy it back a couple years later, but after struggling to find suitable lending options, James decided to set up SME Capital. We get into the challenges in setting up an alternative lender, the various characteristics that make SME Capital such a compelling option for acquisition entrepreneurs, and how to best prepare yourself before applying for funding. We also discuss James’ latest buy and build, Titan Wealth Holdings, where they are building an integrated solution for investment managers, and have already acquired over £7Bn in AUM. Enjoy the episode!

Gerald Ratner, former Chairman and CEO of Ratners Jewellers, shares his remarkable journey from high school dropout to leading the world’s largest jewelry retailer. He discusses his innovative retail strategies and the pivotal acquisitions that fueled massive growth. Gerald reveals how a single ill-timed joke led to his company's downfall, and the resilience he showed during the challenging years that followed. He credits cycling as a key to maintaining his sanity and sparking new entrepreneurial ventures. It's an inspiring story of overcoming adversity!

This week, we speak with Robert Felters, a partner of Wolfgang Capital, a private investment business investing in UK SMEs. In this episode, Robert discusses the challenges he faced when he first decided to acquire SMEs, his experience buying and running multiple businesses, how to source and structure deals, and the inventive way they incentivise employees by allowing them to share in profits. 

This week, we speak with Taliesen Hollywood, Director at Hahnbeck, an M&A sell-side consultancy that focuses on eCommerce businesses. In this episode, Taliesen shares his insights on the eCommerce M&A space and the rise of FBA aggregators, what makes a good eCommerce acquisition target, and what you can do to position your business for a successful acquisition. Enjoy!

This week, we speak with Doug Lawson, CEO & Co-Founder of Mark to Market, one of the UK’s most comprehensive and easily searchable database of private market intelligence. In this episode, Doug shares why he decided to launch Mark to Market, the insightful data that his team is able to aggregate, predict and present about private companies, and the fantastic options available to acquisition entrepreneurs.  Click the link below to signup or book a free demo https://marktomarket.io/buyandbuild/  

This week, we speak with Trish Higgins, who, along with her husband and brother-in-law, left Wall Street and set up Chenmark Capital in Portland, Maine. Chenmark is focused on the acquisition and long-term ownership of small businesses. In this excellent episode, Trish explains how 3 Wall St. professionals found their way into SMB acquisitions, their current platform companies and portfolio construction, how they utilise free cash flow to fund future acquisitions, and their approach to developing in-house talent to run their portfolio companies. Enjoy!

This week Paul addresses some of the common concerns and questions he gets about searching to acquire a small business. Acquisition entrepreneurship is expanding beyond the typical MBA ecosystem but many of the new listeners are not sure where to begin. Hopefully this will help. Be sure to join our mailing list to receive all the resources referenced in this episode. Enjoy! https://buyandbuild.co/ 

This week, we speak with Neil Johnson, Founder and CEO of Duke Royalty, a "royalty investment company" that provides a unique financing solution to companies without raising equity or taking on traditional debt. In this episode, Neil dives deep into the mechanics of royalty financing for business acquisitions,  how it compares to equity and debt financing, and the typical deals that they look to partner on. Enjoy the Episode!