For owners, brokers and acquisition lenders
Acquisition criteria
Your business and transition goals are the starting point. SDExit focuses on acquiring, leading and growing established businesses in Southern California, with minimum size criteria and no upper size cap. The first conversation is about the business, your priorities and whether there is a fit.
Business focus
Evaluating the whole opportunity
Business quality, cash flow, risk and transaction structure guide the conversation.
- Enterprise value
- $2M minimum; no upper size cap.
- Earnings
- $600K SDE minimum, verifiable on a consistent basis; no upper size cap.
- Business characteristics
- Established operations, sustainable cash flow, and a business that can support active leadership and continued growth. Management depth and owner dependence are evaluated in context.
- Geography
- San Diego and Southern California are the priority.
- Industry interests
- Services, manufacturing and distribution. Industry fit is considered alongside business quality and the opportunity to build on existing strengths.
- Valuation
- Opportunity-specific evaluation based on business quality, cash flow, risk and transaction structure, rather than a fixed SDE multiple.
- Structure
- Asset or stock purchase. Seller notes, holdbacks, earnouts and seller equity participation can be considered in the context of the opportunity.
- Evaluation factors
- Customer concentration, revenue trends, transferability, management depth and continuity for employees and customers.
Financing
An opportunity-specific approach
For core acquisitions, I expect to use personal equity and acquisition financing. Larger opportunities would require aligned capital partners. Any financing or partner participation would be specific to the opportunity and is not presented as already committed.
Working toward a thoughtful transition
I welcome conversations with owners, brokers and lenders. My priorities include understanding the owner’s goals, thoughtful succession planning, and continuity for employees and customers. Timing and next steps depend on the business and transaction.
Discreet handling is a priority. The level of information shared and any confidentiality arrangements can be discussed before exchanging detailed materials.