In the latest RISMedia webinar—“Growing Your Business Through M&A: Why the Time is Now”—panelists Mark McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin Ventures; Larry Rideout, chairman and co-owner of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty; and Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens, and Hoby Hanna, CEO of Howard Hanna, discuss why real estate professionals should be growing their business through mergers and acquisitions, and the best practices for successful M&A.
The webinar was moderated by George Slusser, partner at WAV Group, as well as John Featherston, founder and CEO of RISMedia.
Key takeaways:
Panelists offered some top tips for how real estate professionals can maximize their business’s potential through mergers and acquisitions:
- The current state of the M&A market
- Where to look and how to approach potential mergers or acquisitions
- The components of a deal, beyond price, to pay attention to in order to assess if it will be a good fit for your business
- Building both trust and understanding on both sides of the deal so it can reach its full potential and highest payout
Here’s what our esteemed panelists had to say:
“The environment is just tougher right now, but I do think there are huge opportunities in this environment as well if you’re willing to be a little bit of a cowgirl and do some stuff. If you get out there and expand your company if you’re interested in doing that. It just has to make sense for what your company represents.” –Bess Freedman, CEO of Brown Harris Stevens
“We do strategic moves, we follow our leads. If we’re having an impact in a particular marketplace without being there, we begin to look in that market to see if there’s an opportunity that would match our company, our culture,our business model and we grow from there.” –Larry Rideout, chairman and co-owner of Gibson Sotheby’s International Realty
“In our industry we compete so much on a daily basis, in the market especially, that a lot of times I find that brokers who maybe should sell or are thinking about it, need some counsel. Whether it’s hiring a firm like George or somebody else that represents them. Sometimes the best play might be in in-market synergy. I think having representation creates confidentiality.” –Hoby Hanna, CEO of Howard Hanna
“In any buyout situation, the buyer is going to have a greater influence on the business every day that goes by. It’s really important to understand the DNA of the buyer. Are they there to make the business better and grow it? If so, the seller can really improve performance and proceeds. We always took the approach in our acquisitions that if I had to pay 130% of what I thought I was going to pay, it means I got 130% of the business that I thought I was buying.” –Mark McLaughlin, president of McLaughlin Ventures
For more information on how you can thrive amidst market challenges and grow your business, check out the full webinar here.
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