From The Vault: Private Investigators and Dealmakers are Teaming up More Often than Ever!

01/01/25 • 26 min

From The Vault:
Private Investigators and Dealmakers are Teaming up More Often than Ever!

We covered an unusual topic in this episode, that we learned wasn't so unusual afterall. Private investigations within the M&A space. As buyers and sellers become more leary of the trustworthiness between them during dealmaking, the advisory team is completing the circle of trust by having what they disclose verified. Our guest today is Tom Jaeb, Founder and Managing Director of JR Risk Advisors. Tom's background in private investigations goes back to working with his brother's PI firm in 1993. When that firm sold, he and his brother took a year off to honor the Non Compete and then launched J2 Risk Advisors. This time around, their sole focus is on M&A transactions, being hired by PE firms, Investment Bankers, and others in the Dealmaking space. They verify all kinds of information that has been disclosed, and watch for red flags in areas that could be missed by the untrained eye.

You'd think that a credit report, courthouse search, and online search would bring up enough to make a case for or against a deal going through, but J2 digs deeper. They conduct research that examines the Press, Social Media, College Degrees, and other background sources as well.

Tom says that most deals are free of 'red flag' items that would derail a transaction. However, he said that each search uncovers things that weren't necessarily discussed or disclosed, simply because the buyer or seller didn't think it was relevant. Say for instance a lawsuit settlement that the company was a party to 10 years ago. The key to deciding whether research and analysis are necessary is to determine if there are patterns of behavior or isolated incidents. When it's a pattern, it's a red flag, but if it's something that happened once many years ago, they're not going to be as concerned.

Tom shared some intriguing client stories that you will find surprising! He said that Private Investigations during the dealmaking stages are more common than you think. The point about trustworthiness can be carried over from little things to big things; it's then up to the buyer or seller to decide whether to move forward.
Listen to the episode here!

Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor

From The Vault:
Private Investigators and Dealmakers are Teaming up More Often than Ever!

Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor

Previous Episode

From The Vault: Why Acquisition Entrepreneurs Should Know Pari Passu (who?)

From The Vault:

Why Acquisition Entrepreneurs Should Know Pari Passu (who?)
We had John Thwing, "The SBA Guy" in the studio today to talk about SBA financing for acquisitions of small businesses. When it comes to entrepreneurship, John says "don't start one, buy one!" When the deal makes sense from all the fundamental angles, John says it's always better to buy a business that has cash flow on day one. Not that start ups are bad, in fact they're necessary in many situations, but most entrepreneurial endeavors include financially supporting the owner in some way. SBA financing can be a great catalyst for achieving a business acquisition, whether it's your first or 15th company.

The SBA lending threshold is $5MM, but there's an option that many buyers are not aware of that allows you to finance more than $5MM with the same terms as the SBA loan and in the same lien position. It's called "Pari Passu", and it basically allows for two loans on the same business with SBA terms in an equal priority position. With the right mix of cash flow, buyer expertise and down payment (still a minimum of 10%) this can expand buying options beyond a mainstreet size company. As long as the business can support the debt service on the loans, this type of financing can be a gamechanger for the opportunistic entrepreneur.

Live Oak Bank is the largest SBA Lender in the United States. The point of entry for any bank is to become an "SBA Preferred Lender", but John says that working with a lending specialist is key. Most bankers, he says, are not deal professionals because they perform other services for the bank, like opening accounts and other customer related services. When you need creative deal structure, especially when SBA financing is your path, you need someone who does it everyday.

You can connect with John here and Julie here

Listen to the episode here

Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor

Next Episode

Early Stages of a Generational Transition: Mother and Daughter share their story

JTeleconnections, or "JTel" has been in business for nearly 30 years. We had the pleasure of hosting two of the partners in the company, who happen to be family members.

Mother and daughter team, Jody and Paige Weinberg joined us for this episode of Poised for Exit. We talked about how they are working toward Paige taking over the business in the future , and how Jody is delegating some of her work to her daughter, who's been with the business for 9 years. Paige acknowledged she has a lot to learn, but Jody says that Paige has come a long way since she first started.

Jody also acknowledged that she is having a hard time letting go, and likely will 'work' for many years to come, even if she's not leading the charge. Her plans are not uncommon among other owners and founders, regardless of company size. As entrepreneurs, we tend to feed on the energy that growing and running a business provides.

They shared how much they both love the work they do, and it's evident by how loyal their clients are and by how much their work of setting up meetings for professional leaders impacts their client's companies. To be clear, JTel is not a telemarketing firm, but acts as a right-hand person for C-Level leaders who need help setting up prospect meetings. JTel has become an expert at setting up "meetings you want".

Find Paige and Jody here www.meetingsyouwant.com and learn about the special offer for our listeners only!

Connect with Julie Keyes, Keyestrategies LLC
Founder, Consultant, Author, Pod-caster and Instructor