New York State Agency Deal

dandoran — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0100

Two New York state independent agencies recently announced a transaction. The Riverfront Agency was recently acquired by Frank H. Reis, Inc. Riverfront is a P&C shop with approximately $5m in premiums.

Interestingly, this deal is the first P&C deal in New York state that we've seen in some time - but probably falls in line with the significant uptick in insurance M&A activity during the second quarter in general.

What Will Happen With Benefits?

dandoran — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0100

This is the question that we are getting day in and day out. Our take (in short): something is going to happen, but not the sweeping changes that the administration is looking for. As a general statement, we don't see a wholesale impact on benefits / H&L shops out there.

Of note, the bigger impact that we are seeing right now groups evaporate as companies shut down - certainly a regionally clustered phenomenon with heavier losses in "rust belt" [...]

AJG Acquires Walker

dandoran — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0100

Arthur J. Gallagher recently announced the acquisition of the Walker Taylor Agency, a North Carolina P&C shop. Work is a notable agency with a long history - dating back some 140+ years. As outlined, current management will remain in place going forward.

Notable Ohio P&C Deal

dandoran — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:00:00 +0100

Brower Insurance, the largest P&C broker in the Dayton market, recently announced the acquisition of Benchmark Insurance. Interestingly, this is the second deal for Brower inside of the last 6 months- although they note that they do not plan any further deals.

Marketing an Agency for a Transaction

dandoran — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:00:00 +0100

Marketing an Agency for a Transaction

Here is a question that we often get asked: how do you market a company? While the answer invariably is “it depends” – we’re outlining below some of the general steps that we take.

One note: it’s a generally accepted principal that a deliberate approach resulting in an offer received through a bid process is likely to be 20% higher than an “unsolicited offer.” Why would that be? Likely [...]

Reasons Agency Owners Sell

dandoran — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:00:00 +0100

In our line of business we hear a lot of motivations behind “doing the deal.” In our experience, the best reasons often include joining a bigger team, gaining access to more resources, and continuing to grow your net income post closing. Access to more / better markets and less administrative duties can be a powerful motivator for a top producer.

But what about those that want to exit or retire? Below are some stress points that we see come up time and again.

Upcoming Webinar: Insurance M&A for Sellers

dandoran — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 22:00:00 +0100

Sign Up for our upcoming webinar...

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Credit Crisis Explained: Part 2

dandoran — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 05:06:51 +0100

So we continue to hear about the credit crisis - and a lot fo that talk continues to center around the commercial paper market. When we hear problems about liquidity in the market, etc. the reference is often to this short term paper market - not the longer term loans and lines of credit that middle market companies rely on.

So what is commercial paper? And why is it important? Simply explain, its a short term loan used to finance operations. Although it can take several forms, it [...]

Credit Crisis Explained: Part 1

dandoran — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:52:45 +0100

Of course the credit crisis is complex - especially if CDO's, CLO's, credit default swaps, and mortgage backed securities are not part of your every day conversation. That in mind, we thought we'd add this as a back ground primer- Marketplace does a good job at explaining one of the conerstone issues of the crisis - mortgage securitization and CDO's.

The Rise of the Boutique I-Bank

dandoran — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:15:17 +0100

Information Arbitrage (a great read by the way) had a post regarding the future of Investment Banks. The whole post is worth a read, but a tidbit that we certainly agree with:

Investment Banking 2.0 will be the re-emergence of the boutique, the focused, nimble, high-touch firm that was the bedrock of capital formation in the early years of the stock market boom. Because these mega-firms being created at the urging of the Treasury are not sustainable.

This couldn't be [...]

WSJ: PE Heads to Smaller Deals

dandoran — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Interesting article in the WSJ deal book this morning - basically confirming what we have been seeing in the market place. In sum: deals are trending downward in size, and the lower-middle market remains surprisingly strong.

The simple reason? Less leverage on deals. Historically these companies have transacted for far lower multiples than their PubCo and much larger cousins. And in an atmosphere off "de-leveraging" and tighter credit, less leverage on a deal means a gre [...]

The Latest with AIG

dandoran — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

As an agency owner, the AIG situation likely has been cause for angst today. Keep an eye here as we continue to post analysis on what it means for you.

2 p.m. - It is looking like no capital raise from GS, etc for AIG. Bailout?

Sparxent�s Growth Strategy

dandoran — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Sparxent, a newly formed VAR and IT business provider with headquarters in Salt Lake City announced in late August the acquisition of both NetworkD Corporation of California and Arbyte Group of Russia. Terms were not disclosed.

With the acquisition, Sparxent will add NetworkD’s 6,000 customers based in both the U.S. and Europe and Arbyte Group’s 10,000 customers based throughout Russia and Ukraine.

Aggressive Growth Strategy & Cross Selling
[...]

Aztec Systems and ProData Consulting Merge

dandoran — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Aztec Systems Inc. a total solutions VAR based out of Carrollton, Texas announced in early August that it plans to merge with ProData Consulting, of Oklahoma City. Terms were not disclosed.

With the merger, Aztec Systems Inc. will add over 300 clients, 30 highly professional employees, and two new locations in Oklahoma City and Tulsa.
Organic Growth Can Only Take You So Far

Over its 17 years of existence, Aztec Systems grew an average of 3.52% per year. They knew that [...]

New Sell Side Field Machining / Power Plant Client

dandoran — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Clear Rock has been retained by a field machining and power plant services company to pursue a sale of their business. The company's revenues tend to be well insulated from market pressures, as the majority of service is conducted on an emergency basis. The company is very synergistic with either traditional machine shops, or other speciality trades that service the power plant and utilities markets.

For more information please contact Clear Rock at 866-648-7640.&nbs [...]

Carrier Acquires Distributor

dandoran — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Carrier announced that it completed the acquisition of E.B. Ward & Company, a well established distributor of Carrier HVAC products. E.B. Ward had revenues of approximately $150 million.

Deal Analysis

Whereas the current trend in the HVAC market is geographic consolidation amongst the "front line" installers and service companies, this is a great example of an OEM buying "into the channel."

We have seen this trend in several other [...]

ARS Acquires 24/7 Service Corp

dandoran — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

American Residential Service, LLC, a nationwide HVAC services company, recently acquired 24/7 Service Corp. 24/7 is a Las Vegas based HVAC , plumbing and sheet metal company that serviced the Las Vegas and Phoenix markets.

ARS now has a solid service footprint throughout the southwest U.S.

Deal Analysis

This deal falls squarely in the roll-up strategy backed by Clear Rock. In an industry that remains highly fragmented, but is typically dominated on a local level by a small nu [...]

How Has the (Threatened) Owner/Operator Strike Affected You?

dandoran — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 22:00:00 +0100

Here at Clear Rock - we find ourselves at an interesting intersection in re: the psuedo-strike being staged by the Owner / Operators. Not only do we have a segment focus in transportation and logistics, but we keep hearing from the print industry (another segment we focus on) how slowdowns are affecting their operations as well.

Want more? We aren't all that far from the New Jersey Turnpike, which was a pretty bad scene last week as truckers slowed down to 20 mp [...]

The Buyout Industry and All That Debt: What it Means

dandoran — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 13:58:37 +0100

There is a great article in today's New York Times discussing the titans of the buyout world and the current circumstances that they find themselves in. Whereas most of the brouhaha over the past quarter has centered around either the sub-prime fiasco or the inability to place debt for PEG's "mega deals," this article discusses the current state of the deals that got done.

Here are some of the great takeaways...

The Deals that Got Done are Hurting

Thats [...]

RR Donnelley in Pro Line Acquisition

dandoran — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:00:00 +0100

RR Donnelley announced yesterday that it was acquiring Pro Line Printing, Inc. for $122m. The companies entered into a definitive purchase agreement, which is subject to a number of closing conditions.

Why Buy Pro-line?

This is another very traditional acquisition: RRD is looking to expand geographically in a specific vertical - in this case newspaper inserts. Pro Line is a multi-facility printing company out of Texas. This will complement RRD's offset plant i [...]

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