Now, that's the way to sell a company.
Jill Andresky Fraser is Inc's finance editor.
Make Me an Offer ... Please!
MARYLAND SEAFOOD RESTAURANT
Date Featured: April 2000
Annual Sales: $3,000,000
Asking Price: $4,500,000
Inquiries: 6
Result: No longer listed for sale. The broker says: "No offers. Cash flow was strong, but a lot of people worried that the deal was overpriced."
SOUTH CENTRAL AIRPORT
Date Featured: May 2000
Annual Sales: $742,255
Asking Price: $12,000,000
Inquiries: About 12
Result: Still listed for sale. "It's a unique business that isn't for everyone," says the broker.
SOUTHWESTERN BASEBALL CAMP
Date Featured: June 2000
Annual Sales: $66,283
Asking Price: $650,000
Inquiries: Nearly 50
Result: No longer listed for sale. The broker says: "People were intrigued. But the economics of the deal wouldn't make sense, and the seller wouldn't negotiate."
FLORIDA FUEL-DELIVERY SERVICE
Date Featured: July 2000
Annual Sales: $1,068,094
Asking Price: $1,200,000
Inquiries: About 75
Result: No longer listed for sale. (The owner made a deal with an angel investor instead.) "Since the niche was so specialized and I'd created it, people were afraid that I was the company," says the owner.
SOUTHWESTERN MERCEDES-BENZ SERVICE CENTER
Date Featured: August 2000
Annual Sales: $1,113,000
Asking Price: $495,000
Inquiries: About 12
Result: No longer listed for sale. The broker says: "We had serious interest, but the owner got distracted by an arrangement with a friend to solicit offers. None came through."
SOUTHEASTERN DISTRIBUTOR OF SEMIPRECIOUS STONES
Date Featured: September 2000
Annual Sales: $4,366,100
Asking Price: $6,250,000
Inquiries: More than 50
Result: No longer listed for sale. The broker says: "We almost had a deal, but financing was impossible to find. Bankers were worried that the inventory could walk out the door."
SOUTHEASTERN SEAFOOD DISTRIBUTOR
Date Featured: October 2000
Annual Sales: $13,300,000
Asking Price: $2,250,000
Inquiries: About 75
Result: Sale closed in January 2002 for $4 million. The broker says: "The company kept growing, and we managed to get the real estate included in the deal. The buyer is an Inc reader from Europe who plans to relocate to Florida."
MID-ATLANTIC TITLE-INSURANCE BROKERAGE
Date Featured: November 2000
Annual Sales: $129,000
Asking Price: $110,000
Inquiries: 18
Result: The owner closed the business. "It was a very small business, and people were afraid that the current owner was the business," says the broker.
CALIFORNIA DINING-YACHT SERVICE
Date Featured: December 2000
Annual Sales: $3,111,705
Asking Price: $8,400,000
Inquiries: About 40
Result: Still listed for sale, at $9 million. "We had an accepted, full-asking-price offer from a buyer who came through the Internet, but that evaporated after 9/11," says the broker.
MIDWESTERN OUTDOOR-ADVERTISING COMPANY
Date Featured: January 2001
Annual Sales: $376,000
Asking Price: $1,260,000
Inquiries: 104
Result: The company sold in August for its full asking price in cash (no stock or terms). The seller says: "We're an industry that's still under rapid consolidation. I knew that it would take someone in the business to recognize just how valuable our company was."
MIDWESTERN SOFTWARE DEVELOPER
Date Featured: February 2001
Annual Sales: $1,575,000
Asking Price: $5,800,000
Inquiries: 52
Result: Still listed for sale, at $4 million. "We had three offers, including an accepted bid for $4 million, but the buyer couldn't get financing," the broker says.
