West & North Texas business brokers and M&A advisors

Oil, cotton, cattle and wind on the plains

The Permian Basin around Midland and Odessa is one of the most productive oil fields in the United States, and its drilling, oilfield service, trucking and supply companies rise and fall with the energy cycle. Lubbock and the South Plains grow cotton and grain, much of it irrigated from underground water, Amarillo and the Panhandle are cattle country, and wind turbines now stand across much of the region.

Abilene and Wichita Falls are home to Air Force bases, and Lubbock is home to Texas Tech University. Across the region, businesses that serve farms, ranches, oilfields and cities, such as equipment dealers, fabricators, distributors and HVAC and plumbing companies, are the kinds of companies buyers look for. Distances are long, and a company that has built a route network or a service territory across several counties owns something a newcomer would find hard to copy.

When the buyer lives far from the plains

Many buyers for a West Texas company will not live nearby, and they will judge the business from its records before they ever visit. That makes preparation matter. Three years of reconciled statements, a recast that removes owner-specific costs, and a clear account of how the company did in slow years all help a distant buyer trust the numbers.

For oilfield and energy-related companies, expect questions about customer concentration among operators, equipment utilization and safety records. For agricultural suppliers, expect questions about seasons, weather and irrigation. We answer them in the marketing package and HD video, so buyers arrive informed and ready to make serious offers. They will also want to know who would run the company day to day if you stepped back, since recruiting a new manager to a remote location takes time.

What representation looks like on the plains

More than nine in ten of the companies we take to market sell, and the firm has completed over 250 transactions since 2008. Your first meeting is free, and it ends with our opinion of value based on your financials. Until a buyer has put a confidentiality agreement in writing and filled in a financial profile, all they have is an anonymous summary. The first people we call are the investors, capital groups and individual buyers already in our files, and anonymous ads on the major marketplaces follow only when needed.

Letters of intent arrive from several buyers and are played against one another, and every one is presented to you face to face. See our ten-step process, what buyers look for in manufacturing companies, and how our fees work: you owe nothing unless the company sells.