Interested in selling your pest control company to Terminix?
Not necessarily interested in Terminix in particular, but have been contacted by Terminix and think it might be the right time to sell?
There are a few major mistakes that owners of pest control companies make when take their businesses to market. The biggest, and most costly of these errors is to assume that their company only has one value and each acquirer will likely pay the same price.
Each acquirer, whether it’s Terminix, Rentokil, Arrow, Massey or Orkin, will have different acquisition criteria and different strategic rationales for making an acquisition.
The purpose of the acquisition can dramatically impact what an acquirer is willing to pay. One of the worst positions that a seller can find himself in is negotiating with only one acquirer.
Terminix might be the highest payer, but you’ll never know until and unless you run a competitive sale process and allow other acquirers to bid on your business as well.
Each time we take a sell-side client to market, we run a confidential, competitive process and solicit bids (offers) from all of the likely acquirers. In North America, this typically includes Terminix, Orkin, Rentokil, Arrow, Massey and Scotts. It oftentimes includes regional acquirers such as Viking, Home Paramount, Cooks, Clark, and Western – depending upon where the seller is located.
At times Terminix is the highest bidder and tenders the most compelling offer, and at times it does not.
The biggest mistake that you can make as a seller is to deal with only one acquirer. If you do this, 9 times out of 10, you’ll leave significant money on the table. Even if the acquirer that you contact has the capacity and strategic rationale to pay the most, there is no reason for them to do so if they have no competition.
For a recent case study of a successful Terminix acquisition, click here.
If you’ve been contacted by Terminix or are otherwise interested in selling your pest control business, contact the premiere, global M&A and valuation advisor to the pest control industry right now at +1–215–525–0689 or email Sarah Sullivan: ssullivan@PotomacPest.com
