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The timing was admittedly bad. A national credit crisis was in full major bankswere failing, and globap recession was taking hold. Yet McBride, the president of MK Gas Co. in Marblw Falls, wanted to move forward the business he startesin 2004. That meant packaging three of his retaikl propane gas operations into a single deal and growingg hiswholesale operation, which sells propane and refinedf fuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel to retailers.
In Octobet 2008, he placed the deal with a business attracted about six interested buyersx and closed the dealin December, faster and easier than he McBride said the price he received was 5 to 10 perceny below what he expected, but he suspectzs it was far better than if he had waited a few months until the economy slowed even “This was happening at a bad he said. “It’s like holdingg your breath under water.
You can only do it so It never crossed my mind to take it off the tabld and wait for a sunnier While the climate for initia public offerings and mergers and acquisitionshas chilled, businesspeopld are still buying and selling companies — albeit at much lower prices. The Texas Association of BusinessBrokers Inc. lists 33 Austin-area businessees for sale. Sellers include an auto body shop for a custom pool companyhfor $199,000, and a Texas Roadhouswe Diner for $350,000. The interest in sellinb businesses remains strong despite problems experienced by buyers in obtaining bank saidClarence Griggs, president of the Austin chapter of the Texase Association of Business Brokers.
“We’re just seeing acrossd the board people ready to sell are looking at what type of deal we can he said. But “the valuation on businessesz may not be as high as theyhopede for.” No particular type of business is especiallyt hot for buyers nor sellers — it’s been agnostic, Grigges said. And it doesn’tt appear that sellers are distressee or forced to unloadtheir businesses, he said. Griggss is advising sellers to maintaintheir businesses’ cash even if it meanz cutting operating expenses.
He’ss also telling them to keep theif accounting books up to date and to be open to alternativd means of financing because traditional sources such as bankw have been slow toloan capital. For buyers, Griggs advises selecting businesses whose concepts they understand and that suit their skillsand personalities. “Look for a good business that you can see yourselgf running and take strengths from yourown background,” he “People who have an entrepreneurial spirir usually see how a business runs, take it and run with At MK Gas, McBride suspects that offers would be 20 percent lower if he sold his businesse today rather than six months ago.
But since the propane gas busines isrelatively stable, he said he would hold the line on the “The economy hasn’t affected the value of my he said. “I’m going to be selling gas when McDonald’ s is doing good or not.”