Acquisitions create a variety of opportunities and challenges.|
We help both parties put all of the pieces together.
Finding the right company to acquire or, discovering that it might be the best time to be acquired by the right company, is only the beginning of the story.
Cogent offers a complete suite of IT industry specific M&A services to its buy-side clients, each delivered in a systematic process that we continually hone as we accomplish transactions for our clientele, year after year. Specialization allows us to help our clients, and the candidate companies we recruit, in a variety of ways that most firms simply don't understand and provide services others just can’t offer.
One reason for this is we’re not sell-side brokers or consultants, we’re experienced IT services industry M&A intermediaries that work to get the job done from the very beginning of your journey to the closing of the deal -- and likely more transactions after that. The Cogent team builds on our experience from each deal to regularly enhance our depth of knowledge, so that we can better help clients and candidate companies address the myriad issues as they arise, before, during, and after closing a transaction, to maximize success for all of the deal parties.
OUR COGENT PHILOSOPHY:
"One-Plus-One-Equals-Four"
We believe the value of a truly successful acquisition is much greater than the mere sum of its parts; which is why focusing simply on “Trailing Twelve-Month EBITDA” and “Multiples” to determine a “valuation” most often leads nowhere; or to failure.
Cogent endeavors to work through myriad granular details with both sides as we uncover the Opportunity Delta© that allows the deal parties to more easily explore why the transaction should work, inherent risk/reward, potential synergies in operations, sales and financial areas, culture and fit, reciprocal growth opportunity, and much more. We believe that once the Opportunity Delta© is fully revealed, only then is it appropriate to create a mutually agreeable transaction structure and purchase price.
We serve clients from across the USA who range from mature local IT Services providers, to regional and national IT firms with revenues exceeding $200 million annually, as well as private equity firms looking for “platform” companies to invest in or, for a company to add-on to an existing company already in their portfolio.
In general, our services include: candidate research and outreach, candidate recruitment and matchmaking, initial pre-LOI due diligence, financial modeling with our TAM© process, purchase price valuation, deal negotiation and transaction structuring all the way through to creating and signing an LOI, all post-LOI operational and financial due diligence analysis, creating and finalizing all of the myriad transaction documents needed (in consultation with each party’s counsel as required), and countless hours of thoughtful consultation with all deal parties every step of the way, to see the deal through to a successful closing for everyone.
In short, we do the bulk of the work so that each side can stay focused on running their respective businesses – an important aspect of our services many owners only truly appreciate after the deal is done.
Cogent services a broad active client base throughout North America, along with a handful of international clients, and we are capable of successfully servicing a large number of prospective transactions simultaneously – that’s how we designed Cogent since the beginning.
We typically seek “Candidate" companies ranging from $1M in annual sales to $50M or more, with most firms in the $2M to $15M revenue range (because that’s where the bulk of the industry is centered).
I Think I’m a Buyer
Cogent specializes in executing accretive growth strategies, as well as liquidity or exit planning for our clients in the IT Services industry.
Our unique approach enables IT business owners to efficiently pursue acquisitions using their own operating capital, with minimal if any third-party investment or lending. Our proven methods and transaction structures provide our clients with the tools to achieve their goals. We believe you will agree that our services are complete and thorough and provide exceptional results.
As an intermediary specializing in the IT services industry, Cogent can become your outsourced M&A department or, we can supplement your current team. We can be there from the beginning or jump in where you need us the most.
I Could be a Seller
Because working with IT Service companies is all we do every day, one of the things we do really well is “matchmaking.”
Since we already have clients we know intimately – and we aren’t auctioning you off to the highest bidder – we are able to directly connect you to a suitor who has already seen a “cloaked” brief (no names) on your company and already thinks you might be a good fit.
If you agree they might be too, we make introductions, so you can get to know each other directly – with no strings or commitments, or “price” talk – and if that “dating” goes well, we’ll hear from both sides if you each want to keep going. If so we’ll jump back in and move to next steps. There is a lot more to it than that, but in our experience, we think focusing on understanding “why” two companies should keep talking is far more productive than leading with financial review; we think that’s always a bad idea. Pick a button below to learn more.