M&A
Navigating the
world of M&A
EN reflects on a recent M&A seminar by
Mayfield Merger Strategies, and learns about
a new initiative for independent organisers
I
ndependent organisers are
increasingly becoming an
industry focus, whether that’s
through recognition at the EN
Indy Awards or interest from
acquisitive organisers. On 4
June Mayfield Merger Strategies
held its first M&A seminar, in
partnership with Mash Media,
for independent organisers,
providing practical advice about
the road to selling.
The seminar featured
presentations from law firm
Lee & Thompson, strategic
consultancy Plural Strategy and
Mayfield Media Strategies along
with a panel discussion featuring
Clarion Events and Phoenix
Equity.
What quickly became clear over
the course of the afternoon was
that preparation is everything,
and it’s never too soon to
start planning for the sale of a
business. Jonny Baynes of Plural
Strategy covered the basics of
the commercial due diligence
that is carried out on a potential
acquisition, revealing that around
40 per cent of sales fail at the
commercial due diligence stage,
often for very avoidable reasons
such as lack of information
provided by the company being
acquired. Providing an objective,
truthful and accurate information
memorandum can help prevent
issues at the off, making the due
diligence confirmatory rather
than investigatory.
Another important point that
came out of the discussion was
the importance of selling at the
right time. While a one or two-
year old business can certainly
benefit from looking ahead to a
sale, it may well be too early in
its cycle to attract interest from
buyers. Events need several cycles
to provide proof of concept and
continued profit and growth, and
owners also need enough lead
time to prepare their business for
a sale.
Arguably most important of all
was enlisting the help of certain
key figures to help with the sale
process, namely an accountant,
a specialist lawyer and a
broker. Especially important is
checking with your accountant
that revenue and direct costs
for future events are deferred,
otherwise corporation tax is
advanced for a year and renders
the year-on-year growth analysis
for a business meaningless.
“The seminar was extremely
useful, and it felt like the content
was really positioned for us at
our current stage,” says Jamie
Wilkinson, director at publisher
and organiser Eljays44. “It was
comforting to see we are already
doing certain things right but
also to see what we need to be
tracking such as certain KPIs
etc.”
The Event Growth Academy
Following the seminar, EN
met with Steve Monnington,
co-owner of Mayfield Merger
Strategies, to discuss the launch
of the ‘Event Growth Academy’, a
new initiative designed to support
independent event organisers of
all kinds prepare for sale.
“There are lots of areas of
expertise that they need,”
Monnington tells EN. “We
decided that, rather than just
wait until a company is ready for
sale, we would work with them
from the start through to sale
and we would make sure to use
all our contacts to give them the
expertise they need to grow their
business.”
The academy will help
organisers with elements such
as the structure of the business,
relations with shareholders and
exhibition pricing.
“In some cases, we’re joining
the board and we’re investing
money for equity,” continues
Monnington. “In other cases,
we’re charging a quarterly fee
to be available to talk things
through and be on call. It depends
on the circumstances of the
company but the one thing they
will have in common is that they
will be properly represented by us
when they go to market.”
July — 11