Unique Furniture A/S’ Post

I have acquired 2 new businesses over the last 2 years. Vigo in in 2022. Paper Bag Co. in 2023. Both have been massively influential in the growth of Rawlings Group - but maybe not for the reasons you’d first expect. Here’s my take on how to make great acquisitions ⤵️ I see more and more people on LinkedIn discussing “Growth by acquisition”. - More people are talking about it. - More people are attempting it. - More people are open to it. But most people have no idea where to start. They’re trigger happy and always on the hunt for deals. What what they need to be doing, is asking where the gaps are in their current businesses. Take our 2 acquisitions for example: 1/ Vigo In 2022, we knew that there was a missing piece to our solution… We needed to offer a wider range of services to our customers. Then Vigo came along. They had an excellent reputation providing equipment & machinery within the drinks space, meeting out clients needs. We knew it was the perfect business to truly create that full service solution. Both businesses took us from a simple glass packing business, to a full service solution for our clients 2/ Paper Bag Co. In 2023, we become very aware that we needed to diversify our offering to provide more sustainable packaging. Paper Bag Co filled the gap. So we enquired and started talks of an acquisition. Now, with them added to the group we have a much wider range of packaging options and a much more diversified offering. Growing through acquisition is a fantastic approach for a lot of businesses. But don’t make the mistake of thinking all acquisitions are good acquisitions. You have to find companies that: - Fill a gap for you. - Have something you need. - Plus, are at the right price point. Or at least, that’s my take!

Are Midsize Operators Getting Pushed Out? As REITs and smaller operators rise in the self-storage industry, midsize operator-owned facilities are shrinking. Our latest StorTrack data reveals a surge in REIT acquisitions from 2021 to 2024, while small operator-owned facilities are growing as entrepreneurs tap into key markets. Take a look at the graph below to see how REITs and small operators are rapidly capturing market share, leaving midsize operators facing a notable decline. #SelfStorage #MarketTrends #DataAnalysis #StorTrack #SelfStorageIndustry #RealEstate #MarketInsights #BusinessTrends

Exciting times ahead as we share that we've acquired Chilli IT Ltd. We are looking forward to welcoming Chilli IT Ltd into the Celerity Limited group and growing together. More details are in the announcement below #CelerityNews #Acquisition #ITGrowth #BuildingBetterBusiness

There's plenty of acquisition intent in 2025. If you're considering selling your business, let's connect to explore how RL Equity can help realise maximum value. Book an appointment above or contact me on the following: ☎️ +44 7478 188 473 📨 david.watson@rl-equity.com #getintouch #growth #acquisition #reverselogistics #circulareconomy

[Unlocking Growth through Acquisition: Q&A with Alexander Jekowksy, CEO of Cents] In Bri Wang's latest insightful blog post at Newfund, we share insights from Alexander Jekowsky, CEO of Cents, on their growth strategy and recent acquisition of Laundroworks. 🎙️ In this interview, Alex delves into how Cents is revolutionizing the garment care and laundry industry with its all-in-one business management platform and hardware solutions. Since Newfund’s first investment in 2020, Cents has lived an incredible journey—from addressing operational gaps in laundry businesses to launching innovative products like Cents Connect. Their latest acquisition of Laundroworks and $40M Series B funding are major steps towards building a generational business in the industry. 💡 Key insights : - The strategic importance of combining hardware and software solutions to deliver unparalleled value to customers. - How Laundroworks brings cultural alignment, unmatched customer retention, and accelerates Cents' growth trajectory. Read the full interview with Alex to learn more about how acquisitions can unlock transformative growth 👉 https://lnkd.in/e8X6N2ye #Growth #Acquisition #Software #Hardware #Cents #Newfund

Are you considering selling your business? Add-on deals are one of the most popular types of acquisitions for mid-sized companies. Read our latest blog to learn why an add-on deal might be the right option for you. https://lnkd.in/gwejvfxp

I talk to business owners every day, and from time to time, I come across those who are looking to sell their companies. I’m curious—does anyone here acquire businesses or have an interest in buying one? If so, send me a message and let me know what industries you’re focused on, and I’ll share relevant details with you. #businessforsale #Acquiring #businesses #forsale #byowner #creativefinancing

2024 has already felt WAY better for my company than 2023, and the brand new BizBuySell Insight report released today confirmed it: "Small business acquisitions grew 10% over the previous year and 3% over the previous quarter. A total of 2,384 businesses changed hands in the first quarter, representing an enterprise value of $1.8 billion, which is 24% higher than the same time last year. That's the good news. On the downside, selling prices are down a bit: Retail: "The number of retail businesses sold in Q1 grew 7% over the previous quarter and 10% over the previous year. However, this increase in volume was made up of lower priced deals, with the median sale price declining 17% from the last quarter and 16% from last year. This uptick in acquisitions suggests more sellers are motivated to close deals. Service businesses: The service sector showed moderate growth in acquisitions but weaker sale prices and weaker financials. Closed transactions grew 7% year-over-year, while the median sale price declined 5% from the previous quarter and 7% from the previous year. One last note of importance: Changes in deal structure are one such way transactions have moved forward. More sellers are coming to realize that some level of seller financing, typically (at least) 10-20%, should be expected to secure the deal. Link to full report is in the comments. Business buyers and sellers, what are YOU seeing in the small business acquisitions market so far in 2024? #acquisitions #smallbusiness #buyabusiness #sellabusiness #trends #acquisition

Metair’s acquisition of AutoZone ‘opportunistic’! JSE-listed Metair’s acquisition of financially-distressed AutoZone was opportunistic and driven by the group’s need to diversify. Metair CEO Paul O’Flaherty said the acquisition of the privately owned automotive parts retailer and wholesaler, which went into voluntary business rescue in June, was unrelated to Metair’s sale last month of Mutlu Akü, its energy storage subsidiary in Turkey, for about R1.95 billion. O’Flaherty said the acquisition of AutoZone was “quite opportunistic”, adding that it only went into business rescue on 30 June and Metair started the process to sell Mutlu Akü on 1 March. “But we knew we needed to diversify and so when we saw this opportunity, that is when we approached the BRPs [business rescue practitioners] – so it just happened simultaneously. “Once we have sold Mutlu Akü, we have got a high concentration in South Africa as a manufacturer for the OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] and we need to diversify on that. “The OEMs are good business. We have been in that for 70 years but diversification is key to us,” he said. “To go into aftermarket parts is what we understand. We think this [the AutoZone deal] is a good synergy.” #mergersandacquisitions #synergy https://lnkd.in/d_XstppR

What do all the companies below have in common? They grew by acquisitions... Growth in a business comes in two forms: (𝟭) 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 and (𝟮) 𝗜𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. What does this mean in plain English? 𝗢𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 typically refers to growing your company “naturally” via advertising, marketing, and referrals. 𝗜𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗰 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 typically refers to growing your company via acquiring other businesses. While organic growth is easy to understand, I’ve seen most business owners get stumped by inorganic growth. Most business owners start to get nervous at the thought of acquiring another business. While it’s true that inorganic growth is unusual, it’s a much faster way to grow your business. It’s not uncommon for a business to double or triple in a couple of years via acquisitions. I was reminded of the dichotomy between organic and inorganic growth when I read an article about the recent IPO of Lineage. Lineage was this year’s largest IPO on the Nasdaq and raised $4.4 billion. It’s the type of boring business that you’ve probably never heard about and that’s exactly why I love it! Lineage is one of the world’s largest owners of temperature-controlled warehouses. The journey of how the company started is truly remarkable. Two friends who had cushy jobs in investment banking in New York decided they wanted to start a business together and started looking for a potential business to buy. After looking for about a year, they courted a warehouse owner in Seattle who wanted to retire from his business and whose children didn’t want to take over the business. The two friends convinced and wooed the owner to sell the business to them, and that’s how they got started. The kicker is that they did this in 2008 right at the same time as the global financial crisis. Over the course of a 16 year period, the two friends began acquiring and consolidating family-owned independent temperature-controlled warehouses in the US. Today they have 480 warehouses across 19 countries. The company’s growth and success has been entirely based on 𝗮𝗰𝗾𝘂𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀. While growth by acquisitions can be an amazing way to grow your business, it’s not without risk. Acquisitions are expensive and require capital - typically in the form of debt to finance them. You have to make sure that your business is able to service this debt, otherwise it can all fall apart very quickly. 𝗔𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗹𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀. I’m curious to hear from you, have you ever considered buying a business?