West & North Texas · Texas
Cisco business brokers and M&A advisors
For a Cisco owner weighing a sale, MDR & Associates offers M&A advisors who sit only on the seller's side and are paid only when the deal closes. This is the Eastland County town where Conrad Hilton bought the Mobley Hotel in 1919 and started a chain, and it still sits on a crossroads, with Interstate 20 on its south side and U.S. 183 through its center.
Red Gap, a railroad crossing and a hotel empire
Cisco began as Red Gap in 1878 or 1879 and took its current name in 1884. Many consider May 17, 1881, its birthday, the day two railroads crossed here. The early economy rested on trade, ranching, fruit farming and the limestone, coal and iron ore found nearby. In the 1920s oil turned Cisco into a boomtown of about 15,000 people. Today it has 3,883 residents, 45 miles east of Abilene and 105 miles west of Fort Worth, and is home to Cisco College, a two-year school founded in 1940.
The Hilton story is worth a moment for anyone who owns a business here. A hotel bought in a small Texas town became the start of something much larger. Buyers still look for companies with that kind of room to grow, and a Cisco company with steady earnings and a route along I-20 can interest buyers who have never been to Eastland County.
Cisco at a glance
- CountyEastland County
- Metro areaWest Central Texas, on I-20 between Abilene and Fort Worth
- Companies we sell$3M–$100M
- Typical transaction3–9 months
- Fee if we do not closeNone
Preparing an I-20 corridor company for a sale
The strongest companies in towns like Cisco tend to serve customers along the interstate rather than in town alone: trades, suppliers, trucking and service firms that reach Abilene, Eastland and beyond. Buyers will want to see where those customers are, how the company wins work and who handles the relationships day to day.
Owners often have more to fix than they expect: personal expenses in the books, a key manager without a contract, equipment never appraised. We work through those points before going to market, so a buyer's lawyers find nothing new. Our fee page explains that all of this is covered by a single success fee, paid only if the company sells.
Our advisors come to Cisco
The firm is headquartered in Frisco, and we meet owners at their company or a discreet place nearby. Read more about how we sell a business and about the West and North Texas market we cover.
What we sell in and around Cisco
Industry decides the buyer, the multiple and the diligence. These are the four sectors we work in most.
Manufacturing
Equipment, real estate, backlog and customer concentration decide what a manufacturer is worth.
How buyers value itHome Services
Plumbing, HVAC, roofing, landscaping and other home service companies — where repeat customers, crews and technicians decide the price.
How buyers value itDistribution & Wholesale
Inventory, working capital and supplier agreements decide what a distributor is worth.
How buyers value itBusiness Services
Recurring revenue and owner dependence separate a two-times business from a six-times business.
How buyers value itStraight answers
Questions Cisco owners ask before they sell
Answered in full by the advisors who run the sales. Every Texas-wide answer.
The process
How a Cisco sale runs
Ten steps in four stages, typically three to nine months. Click any step to see it in full.
- Prepare
- Go to market
- Negotiate
- Close
We also work with owners near Cisco
Questions owners in Cisco ask
Will a buyer from Dallas or Abilene be interested in a company based in Cisco?
Often, yes. Buyers look for profitable companies with a reachable market, and Cisco sits on I-20 between Abilene and Fort Worth. What matters most is the earnings record, the spread of customers and a team that will stay. We present those clearly and let interested buyers compete for the company.
My company owns its building on the edge of Cisco. What happens to the property in a sale?
You have a choice. Some owners hold on to the property and rent it to the new owner under a long lease, which keeps rental income coming in after closing. Others fold the building into the price. We discuss both options with you and your CPA before going to market, because the choice affects the price and the structure of the offers.
Talk to an advisor about your Cisco company
Four fields, a reply the same business day, and nothing shared with anyone. If you would rather talk, call (855) 637-2776.