Consulting firm buyers predict a rise in deals
BUYERS of consulting firms forecast six per cent growth in deals over the next two to three years, according to a new report from M&A advisory firm Equiteq.
Nearly a third of the 100 buyers of consulting firms that were surveyed said they expected their growth to come through acquisitions rather than organically and the same amount are seeing more opportunities to buy than last year.
The survey revealed the average budget over the next year for those doing two acquisitions or more is $90m (£56.4m) and for those doing one acquisition it is $35m. Nearly one in six of the buyers surveyed have budgets in excess of $100m.
“Cultural fit” and a “diverse set of services” were named as the biggest dealbreakers for deals while the most attractive factors were named as “financial stability”, “deep domain experience” and “leveragable IP”.
“The challenge for sellers is to get on the radar of the companies who are most likely to buy their business and have the type of money to spend that meets their expectations,” said Paul Collins, managing partner of Equiteq.
“They need to make sure that their first approach to a potential buyer is well researched and thought through as they may only get one chance.”