Lintaar

I'm looking to acquire some small businesses (3-5 @ <1.2m valuation) and while I have the basics down reading through financials & doing my own valuations, I want to learn more about strategy and structure as well as learn from past mistakes. Anything books come to mind? A lot of the M&A books I've found are directed toward M&A teams at large corps, which I am not.

Thanks!

Edit: I'm mostly looking at established semi-local small businesses as owners retire increasingly faster... not messing with asset-less, cashflow-less tech startups.

I have a holding company with 4 businesses, and am looking to add several to my portfolio over the next few years. Instead of just doing seller financing like I have done when I sell a company, I was thinking of establishing an independent lending company specifically to finance buyers who purchase businesses from my portfolio. The idea is to "double dip" on the interest, earning not just from the sale of the business but also from the loan interest. I have an associate ready to manage this lending company, which would use my funds to lend to buyers.

For example, if I sell a company for $1,000,000 and offer financing at 10% (lower than an SBA loan @ 11.25%), I make an extra $275,000 over a 5 year loan.

I'm looking for resources on if this setup has been done before. Any advice/concerns appreciated!

I'm in the process of creating a holding company for 3 of my businesses (only about $4M total) and funneling dividends to the holding company to acquire additional businesses with. I'm looking for some additional resources to better solidify this plan. Anyone know of any books on successful holding company inceptions or resources on the following things?

• Structuring the Holding Company: How can I structure my holding company for optimal legal and tax benefits while ensuring efficient management of multiple subsidiaries?
• Acquisition Strategy: What strategies and due diligence practices are most effective for identifying and acquiring new companies to add to my holding company?
• Governance and Management: How can I set up effective governance and ensure balanced management across diverse subsidiaries within my holding company?
• Growth and Scaling: What are the primary obstacles in scaling a holding company?
• Exit Strategies: I'm looking to grow, not necessarily exit, but I want to be aware of exit strategies like when to divest subsidiaries or sell equity in the holding company itself, etc.

I have several ideas for each of these, but figure I should know as many options as I can before committing. Advice is appreciated, thanks!