GrowthSTEP™ M&A Corporate Development Acquisition Best Practices for Service Providers

 

When service providers are looking to expand; growth through M&A corporate development is often one of the most efficient ways to grow.

 

Sadly, the normal approach taken by acquisitions relies all too much on creating a list and then cold calling. Most folks have it all backwards: they start the process with the wrong goals, compound the problem by leveraging their networks as opposed to mapping the entire ecosystem and building a pipeline which creates optionality and further "manufacture" long-term problems by failing to treat acquisitions as an operational initiative. All too often casual assumptions are made by financial types, whom never stick around through post integration, without input from operations.

 

Sadly, the business ecosystem is setup on the wrong deal incentives for most players. Folks are either paid on hourly basis (not incented to ensure long-term success) or on success fees on a deal per deal basis (again not incented to ensure long-term success). The central problem is that these folks do not suffer disincentives for creating future "train wrecks" and acquisition failures.

 

Top Reasons for Acquisition Failures:

1. Ineffective Strategy & Targeted Mapping: Need to map people, process, systems, cultures using a targeted set of assessment evaluation tools.
2. Failure to achieve Constituency Alignment.
3. Failure to integrate key operational processes and personnel and create operational champions

Ephor Group's methodology and approach to M&A corporate development as part of a services providers "GrowthSTEP™" ensures investment(s), deployments, and acquisitions achieve the targeted objectives and economics.

 

Our approach ensures acquisitions increase evaluations and that targeted objectives deal economics and integrations realize the necessary timelines and results.

GrowthStep™ ensures top quartile returns and performance because of its approach.The brilliance of the GrowthStep™ approach is that it:

1. Identifies the most attractive and additive opportunities (via primary Intelligence, primary research & advanced profiling and TARGETING techniques which map the competitive and alternative landscape).
   
   
2. Maturates acquisitions (GrowthSTEP™ educates/changes market perspectives regarding valuations, T&C, etc., thereby "maturating" targets into opportunities) so that all constituents are aligned.
   
   
3. Has consistent, predictable, and forecastable results.

Developed in the mid-90’s based on best practices learned within IBM and Edward Jones & Co. corporate development programs and validated and used by numerous high profile branded private equity firms such as Baird Capital Partners, Baird Ventures, Austin Ventures, Frotenac, etc, GrowthSTEP™ provides strategic and financial acquirers of service based and “asset light” businesses a specific expertise and methodology exclusively focused on the business services sector, especially outsourcing based business models.

 

Ephor’s GrowthSTEP™ methodology combines a precise and highly focused approach, delivered with deep domain experience and results by proven “C” level executives, enhanced by a proprietary and proven process, resulting in the achievement of the growth and development objectives of the client company.  GrowthStep's approach ensures acquisitions enhance valuations and are forecastable and ensures integrations realize the necessary timelines and results.

GrowthSTEP™ Benefits:

1. For CEO executives, complete your "Platform."
2. For Investors, complete your "Buy & Build Investment Thesis."
3. Leverage best practices of full-time M&A corporate development experts and seasoned deal veterans.
4. Educate and nurture the market around your targeted valuation multiples, T&C, etc.
5. Identify acquisition assets: talent and management acquisition, best practice processes, etc.
6. Integration of best-in-class best practices, capabilities and competencies.
7. Evaluate and size potential expansion options: (i.e. determine viability and size cost-benefit and return of expanding to new markets or countries, or of adding new products/services) to your existing portfolio.
8. Achieve proforma results budgeted and modeled (Operational execution guaranteed).
   
   

Contact us at ephor[at]ephorgroup.com for a pragmatic, no-obligation overview of the GrowthSTEP™ methodology and results.

 

Read more about Revenue Strategies for Growth in 2012 and Beyond here.

Contact us at ephor[at]ephorgroup.com for a pragmatic, no-obligation overview of the GrowthSTEP™ methodology and results.