Advisor Industry Awards: The Top 8 Deals of 2023

We released the first set of quarterly League Tables in 2019 to highlight the top Investment Banks and M&A Advisory Firms on Axial based on platform data and behaviors. 

Today, we are excited to feature Axial sell-side members individually with the Advisor Industry Awards, which showcases the top 2023 closed deals in the eight industries with the highest volume of deal flow on Axial.

Nominations came from a combination of Axial’s research and business development teams, who reviewed more than 2,000 deals and took into consideration the following attributes of the deals and firms that represented them:

• Marketed on Axial
• Minimum $500K EBITDA
• Closed in the 2023 calendar year
• The amount of buyer interest generated (measured by pursuits)
• The advisor’s method of selectivity in distributing the deal

The deal did not have to close via the platform with an Axial buyside member to be considered. 

Congratulations to these featured members!

2023 Closed Deal Details By Industry

Average Revenue, EBITDA, & Buyer Interest

Median Revenue, EBITDA, & Buyer Interest

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Business Services

TEC Staffing Services, a premier provider of staffing services in Northwest and Central Arkansas, had been founder-operated for 40 years at the time of its recent acquisition by HireQuest, Inc. TEC Staffing was represented by Jon Holbert of CBI Advisory Partners. This deal received more than 300 buyer matches on Axial and was ultimately pursued by more than 65 buyers on the platform alone.

Consumer Goods

Safe Touch, represented by Paula Reeb of Clayton Capital Partners, received an equity investment from FVLCRUM Funds in the first half of 2023, helping the business expand into additional markets. 

“This deal represents a very good example of the value of recurring revenues to the Private Equity community,” said Paula Reeb. The value of that recurring revenue ultimately helped the transaction achieve more than 70 pursuits on Axial, which is nearly 7x that of the average pursuits for Consumer Goods closed deals in 2023.

Food & Hospitality

“brittle-brittle stands out as a great example of a classic DFW-based family-owned company being acquired by a well-matched private investment firm with plans for significant growth and expansion,” says Jon Mueller, Managing Partner of Exit Partners, who represented the business in their recent transaction.

brittle-brittle was founded in the classic “American dream” style in the late 80s by a father and his three sons to manufacture and sell the best peanut brittle and other snack foods on the market. The company’s commitment to “old-fashioned hand-dipped” peanut brittle made with simple, all-natural ingredients at a great price led to consistent growth and national distribution.

While on the smaller end of the market – in the $1M – $2M EBITDA range – this transaction had a healthy pursuit rate on Axial at 21.43%. After being on the market for just over a year, the deal ultimately closed this past fall. 

Healthcare

This medical device manufacturing transaction represented by Vertess Healthcare Advisors took 12 months to close from start to finish. 

While Vertess notes that this was definitely a much longer process than usual from LOI to close, the business ultimately sold for 55M – roughly 11x EBITDA – making the longer process worthwhile for the sellers.

“We decided to get a seller’s Q of E in the middle of the process, which added a few extra months,” said Bradley Smith, Managing Partner at Vertess. “The multiple was higher than it should be due to the owner’s tenacity. It started off at a 10x, then kept growing as he consistently pushed the seller. It also helped that the company kept growing at an impressive rate.”

Industrials

Custom Plastics is an ISO 9001:2008 certified customer extruder, molder, and assembler of plastic products that serves a variety of end markets, including electrical, construction, OEM, housewares, lighting, commercial, advertising, and telecom. The business predominantly serves original equipment manufacturers across these industries and is centrally located near major U.S. airports. At the time of the transaction, the business had been family-owned and operated for over 60 years.

With a total enterprise value in the $10 – $20M range, Custom Plastics was an attractive opportunity for buyers, with more than 410 buyers on the Axial recommendation list.

“Custom Plastics started business in 1954, and when Groce, Rose & Moore became aware of their willingness to be acquired, we contracted with them to sell their business. There were many challenges along the way, and it took quite a while and many LOIs to make this happen,” says Warren Rose of Grace, Rose & Moore. Ultimately, about seven team members were involved in the transaction to help overcome obstacles.

Needless to say, Groce, Rose & Moore never gave up looking for that “right fit” buyer, and after closing, the team was able to look back on the transaction with the satisfaction of another job well done.

Reflects Rose: “We truly care about our clients and listen to them regarding what is important, then take that knowledge along with our expertise to craft a transaction that is fair and equitable to all involved.”

Media & Entertainment

High Output is an event production company headquartered in Canton, MA, with five additional offices down the eastern seaboard.

David Humphrey, President of Beacon Equity Advisors, who represented the business, reminisced about how fun the company was to work with.

“The Company is the premier event production company for large-scale events in New England, and for a long time, whenever a president of the United States (under either party) would attend an event in New England, High Output was the event provider. Their team knows the protocol and is secret-service cleared.”

He adds: “They’re also the leading provider of equipment for the movie industry.  If a movie is being filmed in New England, they are the go-to providers of everything one needs — except for the actors! — to film.” 

And while the overall pursuit rate was a bit lower on this transaction, ultimately it only takes one buyer!

Technology

Business Solutions Partners, a software development firm and certified Oracle NetSuite Solution Provider Partner with a focus on financial automation, was represented by Linda Rose of RoseBiz and acquired by Columbia River Advisors (CRP) in Q1 of 2023.

“We got a chance to work with Linda Rose,” said Nathan Chandrasekaran of CRP. “Working with her was great – she really understands the IT services market, which is a core investment thesis for CRP. She was very helpful in managing the process and setting expectations for her client. Initially, CRP did not win this process but had the opportunity to revisit the deal several months later and came to a deal that worked for both sides.”

Transportation

This third-party logistics and warehousing transaction closed in Q1 of last year and was represented by Mark Gould of Vercor, an Axial member since 2010. It had a total enterprise value of $80M and an EBITDA north of $5M.

And while the deal had a smaller buyer list than many other transactions discussed on this list – 188 recommendations in total – the deal also had the highest buyer pursuit rate of all nominated deals at 30.85%.

Definitions

Buyer Match: Axial sell-side members receive a matching set of buyside members for every deal they manage via Axial. A “Buyer Match” refers to a specific buyside Axial member who matches a particular deal.

Pursuit: Axial buyside members express initial interest in a deal by clicking “Pursue,” after which they can access and sign the NDA.

Pursuit Rate: The deal “Pursuit Rate” is defined as the number of times a particular deal is pursued by unique buyside members (i.e., the buyer shows explicit interest in exploring the deal) divided by the total number of buyside firms invited to evaluate the deal.