The Destructive Power of the Individual – Part 2

A previous posting looked at the issues that can arise when acquiring a company with a long-time owner/founder or (even worse) an owner given to self-love … what the shrinks call a “narcissist.”  Today is follow-up: some cautionary approaches to dealing with them because (ah, life) they are way too prevalent to ignore.

Long-time owners can bubble with positive pride about their companies but their management techniques can make it extremely hard to tweeze apart what they themselves have accomplished versus what the company has accomplished.  Particularly if the seller/owner is retiring to Madagascar, this lack of clarity can become a big issue.

And narcissists can be enormously charming individuals.  That can make spotting one a

real challenge.  The Merger Verger is no shrink so I will turn you over to others smarting than me for more details on diagnosing or identifying them (see links below).

What I will do here is offer some suggestions and words of caution on dealing with them.

The Destructive Power of the Individual – Part 1

I was discussing an interesting acquisition situation the other day with a long-time business friend of mine.  She was looking at acquiring small a privately-held company in the specialty logistics space as a launching pad for a roll-up strategy. Her target was a company with an amazing customer list and a stellar 40-year reputation.  It was underperforming operationally, which offered rich efficiency upside.  The owner (age 70+) was interested in retiring.

Sound fabulous?  Dig deeper.

If you are involved in executing a roll-up strategy, sooner or later you will come upon a potential target where the owner is the founder and long-time “face” of the business.  In such a case,  The Merger Verger has three words for you:

Approach with caution.