3 months ago, Tiam and his M&A team presented a one-of-its-kind deal:
- acquiring a Content Site for $322,000
- adj. L12M EBIT: $100,000 -> acquisition multiple 3.2x
- great stats, upward trend, low volatility, lots of low-hanging fruits
- 100% Seller-Side financing, zero down payment
- quarterly payments over the next 3y -> besides the payment deferment from ad/aff revenue, the site might actually finance itself
🚀 We pulled the trigger and could already boost the site’s performance
Nevertheless, I would NOT recommend specifically looking for 100% seller-side financing deals.
Why?
1) Needle in the haystack: We’ve looked at hundreds of deals and, at a regular level, 100% seller-side financing might not be attractive for the sell-side. In this case, there was a unique situation with tax implications, that made it possible
2) Opportunity Cost: Don’t waste your time chasing near-impossible setups, which might ruin your reputation in the market
3) Speaking of reputation: We’ve been talking to this founder on/off for 2y, it was an off-market deal in Europe, we acquired assets very close to this one (with bloggers, obviously, talking about this) and we have a very strong standing in this market, meaning almost every affiliate with a >$100k net profit asset might know us personally or has at least heard from us. In combination with the personal needs of the seller, our M&A team got creative and came up with a very favorable solution for both sides
🧊 The cold hard truth is, besides what some influencers or news outlets might tell you and quite correlated with FE International, Inc.’s stats about financing structures: The most likely structure might (still?) be a cash-down payment + a performance-based or seller-financing part.
But every seller is different and comes with a different set of expectations. At TreasureHunter, Tiam and his team are embracing this and always looking to come up with a solution, that’s a perfect fit for the seller’s needs, working hard to be the “Favorite Buyer” by not thinking dogmatic about restrictions/ what’s the norm/ “industry standards”, but by putting the seller first ❤️