Buy and Build

This week we speak with Graeme Wallis who is embarking on his ETA journey by pursuing a traditional search fund. Graeme is passionate about ETA and the UK ecosystem, and he will be joining us on future episodes.  In the episode, Graeme shares how he leant about search funds, and why the traditional route appealed most to him, and then Paul and Graeme discuss the differences between traditional and...

This week we speak with Mike Hindi, Chairman of Green Logistics Groningen. Mike searched for his company as part of the Novastone searcher cohort and acquired his company in The Netherlands, will living in Switzerland.  In the episode, Mike discusses the importance of people and building relationships for both the operational stage and for a smooth acquisition process. Mike also discusses why he w...

This week, we speak with Julie Wilkinson -  a Chartered Accountant, Virtual CFO, and M&A specialist helping ambitious business owners buy and grow SMEs. In this episode, we cover deal valuation and structuring, financial and operation due diligence, building a group and the nuances of group reporting and cash flow. If you are looking to buy multiple businesses- this is a great episode to listen to...

This week, we speak with Nick Bradley. Nick is an experienced entrepreneur, CEO, and investor in SMEs. Nick now partners with business owners to scale and eventually exit their businesses. Nick helped grow Getty Images via acquisition around 2008-2010 and more recently helped scale Ascend Learning to an eventual sale to Blackstone PE.  Nick also hosts  Scale Up With Nick Bradley, which is one of t...

This week, we speak with Logan Naidu, Founder, and Group CEO - of Kernel Global and Dartmouth Partners. Dartmouth has been listed by The Sunday Times as one of the UK's fastest-growing firms in 2022 and recognized by Fast50 as the fastest-growing company in its industry. In this episode, Logan shares why he left the world of finance to start his own recruitment company, his experience acquiring Pu...

This week, Paul is excited to announce the acquisition of his first business. A fantastic company in the home improvement sector, in the UK.  During the episode, Paul discusses why he decided to look into the home improvement sector and why he is excited about this particular company. Paul also recaps his search journey and the challenges he encountered along the way. Enjoy!  

This week, we speak with Sarah Gardner, Founder and Managing Director of Allegro Tax - a specialist tax advisory firm. In this Episode, Sarah begins by discussing the advantages and disadvantages of buying a target company through an SPV as opposed to doing so personally, how to benefit from entrepreneurs' relief, the tax efficient options available for incentivising employees, tactics for minimiz...

This week, we speak with Mark Flood, co-founder and director of Renatus Capital Partners, a private equity firm based in Ireland that makes investments in Irish and UK companies with enterprise values of €5 million and above. In this episode, Mark shares his journey leading up to the launch of Renatus, the ins and outs of raising a fund, what they look for in their portfolio companies, how they hi...

This week, we speak with Ross Tomkins, an entrepreneur, investor,  author, and mens health advocate. Ross is also the founder of TDH Capital, an integrated healthcare group with 4 verticals: medical supplies, home care services, healthcare recruitment, and mens hormonal healthcare. In this episode, Ross describes how his acquisition journey began after running his physiotherapy business for many y...

This week, we speak with Dan Cremons, a former private equity investor and CEO; and now founder of Accelera Partners and Author of Winning Moves: 105 Proven Ways to Create Value in PE-Backed Companies.  In this episode, Dan discusses how leadership, talent, and capabilities drive performance of PE-backed companies. We discuss how to ensure the right talent is in place for a target acquisition, how...

This week, we speak with Sara Yates, CFA. Sara is an experienced economist (Ex JPMorgan, Barclays, UBS), property entrepreneur, and ambassador for the Novastone Capital Advisors Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition program.  In this timely episode, Sara shares her thoughts on the current macro environment. We cover inflation, interest rates, supply constraints, and Brexit; and the impact it may ha...

This week, we speak with Paul Leitao, Founder of Mercurio Capital - a corporate finance company that arranges financing for small and medium-sized businesses. In this episode, Paul discusses the alternatives to cash flow loans for acquisition financing, the best types of physical assets to leverage against [and the worst], the intricacies of leveraging the debtor book, and much more. Enjoy the epi...

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 a...

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 Goldma...

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 struggl...

This week, we speak with Gerald Ratner, former Chairman and CEO of Ratners Jewellers. In this episode, we discuss Gerald's journey from starting in the family business as a high school dropout to eventually taking over the business and turning it into the world's largest jewellery retailer. At its peak, Ratners owned 6 household brands and had over 2000 stores across the UK and US. His story is an...

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 entrep...

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 constr...

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 p...

This week, we speak with Andrew Lynch, Finance Director at EMT Healthcare, a third-generation family-owned business. In this episode, we discuss what it takes to build a robust finance function for your SME, common cash flow problems and how to identify them early, and Andrew's new company offering strategic finance support for SMEs. Enjoy the Episode!

This week, we speak with Sebastien Perroud, Chairman and Group CEO of the IAR group, an international automation and robotics group that was set up to acquire three separate entities in the USA, Portugal, and Switzerland. In this episode, Sebastien shares his acquisition journey, how he discovered NCA- a Swiss ETA incubator, and how he executed 3 simultaneous deals across 3 countries after searchi...

This week, we speak with Rob Goddard, a former sell-side broker turned business buyer in the UK. Rob also helps fellow business owners achieve an attractive exit through private client mentoring. In this episode, Rob shares his insights and secrets of the UK brokerage landscape, how he was able to sell businesses at a significant premium, and his future acquisition goals. Enjoy the episode!