Calder Capital/SBDA Cruise Into Q2 2023 with 13 Closings, Up 124% over 2022

With the successful sale of a Traverse City, MI service/construction business on March 31, 2023, the Calder Capital/SBDA team completed transaction #13 of 2023 and continued to set the stage for a record 2023 despite a continued downward trend of transactions nationally and in the face of continued rising rates, high inflation, and large-scale uncertainty.

“Our team has shown tremendous resilience. While it is clear to us that our competitors are largely floundering to get transactions across the finish line, Calder’s team remains a shining star, completing 13 transactions in Q1, posting record revenues (up 124% vs Q1 2022), and setting the stage for a 4th consecutive Inc 5000-year in 2023,” stated Managing Partner Max Friar.

Friar continued, “Despite this, the year continues to pose challenges for our growth. We have invested heavily in building our team’s capacity, however, we are not engaging new clients at the desired pace. In fact, for the first time in Calder’s history, we are closing transactions as fast as we are onboarding new clients.

We are sensing that due to understandable uncertainty, many sellers are sitting on the sidelines. Many of them are asking, ‘Should I wait until rates come down?’ or ‘Will 2024 be a better year to sell?’ While we do not know the answers to these questions, what we do know is that our sell-side clients are getting a lot of attention from buyers due to an overall lower number of available opportunities on the market. We are managing 20+ executed letters of intent. Serious buyers buy in all markets, and in fact, one thing that we are enjoying about this market is that higher rates and uncertainty have thinned the buyer pool so that only the serious ones remain.”

Here is an overview of the transactions closed thus far in 2023 (sell-side unless otherwise noted):

Regarding industries, Calder has not noticed any strong shifts in terms of buyers favoring one industry greatly over others. Calder’s Q1 transactions were quite evenly spread over manufacturing, service, construction, and distribution. A couple of trends that may be emerging based on Q1 activity: Calder’s engaged buyers have been rapidly closing deals (which is particularly interesting as it has become more challenging this past quarter to sign on new buy-side clients), many of the transactions completed in Q1 were larger, for example, three of the closings were $20M, $25M, and $50M in enterprise value, and as referenced above, sellers are feeling quite uncertain about the future and many are choosing to sit on the sidelines. Sellers that are choosing to sell presently are therefore receiving a lot of attention from buyers. “Recently, we received 189 requests for information for one of our newer sell-side engagements in one day!” noted Max Friar. “This is a record for us and illustrates the continued strong interest from buyers for quality sellers.”

Calder continued to invest heavily in its team and infrastructure in Q1 2023. We welcomed buy-side Associate Jonathan Stanton, sell-side Advisors Rob Stasiak, Andrew Williams, and Kregg Kiel, and Director of Continuous Improvement Hannelore Green all in Q1. “Calder is focused on continuous recruiting and bolstering our team in areas that are strategically important to our growth,” noted Max Friar. “Growth in Indiana, Chicago, and metro Detroit is key to our plans for 2023 and we have already made excellent strides in this respect.”

Topping off Q1, Calder received a number of significant recognitions including being recognized for a third consecutive year on Inc 5000 lists, placing #80 in the Midwest for growth in 2023. Additionally, Calder was recognized as “Best Business Investment Firm” in the Michiana Business News‘ annual Best of Michiana Business Awards.

Please contact Calder if you have an interest in a business valuation, selling a business, or acquiring a business.